Dynamic feature analysis in bidirectional pedestrian flows

Analysis of dynamic features of pedestrian flows is one of the most exciting topics in pedestrian dynamics. This paper focuses on the effect of homogeneity and heterogeneity in three parameters of the social force model, namely desired velocity, reaction time, and body size, on the moving dynamics of bidirectional pedestrian flows in the corridors. The speed and its deviation in free flows are investigated. Simulation results show that the homogeneous higher desired speed which is less than a critical threshold, shorter reaction time or smaller body size results in higher speed of flows. The free dynamics is more sensitive to the heterogeneity in desired speed than that in reaction time or in body size. In particular, an inner lane formation is observed in normal lanes. Furthermore, the breakdown probability and the start time of breakdown are focused on. This study reveals that the sizes of homogeneous desired speed, reaction time or body size play more important roles in affecting the breakdown than the heterogeneities in these three parameters do.     

Multi-grid simulation of pedestrian counter flow with topological interaction

We investigate the dynamics of pedestrian counter flow by using a multi-grid topological pedestrian counter flow model.In the model,each pedestrian occupies multi-rather than only one grid,and interacts with others in the form of topological interaction,which means that a moving pedestrian interacts with a fixed number of those nearest neighbours coming from the opposite direction to determine his/her own moving direction.Thus the discretization of space and time are much finer,the decision making process of the pedestrian is more reliable,which all together makes the moving behaviour and boundary conditions much more realistic.When compared with field observations,it can be found that the modified model is able to reproduce well fitted pedestrian collective behaviour such as dynamical variation of lane formation,clustering of pedestrians in the same direction,etc.The fundamental diagram produced by the model fits also well with field data in the free flow region.Further analyses indicate that with the increase of the size of pedestrian counter flow system,it becomes harder for the system to transit into a jamming state,while the increase of interaction range does not change the transition point from free flow to jamming flow in the multi-grid topological counter flow model.It is also found that the asymmetry of the injection rate of pedestrians on the boundaries has direct influence on the process of transition from free flow to jamming flow,i.e.,a symmetric injection makes it easier for the system to transit into jamming flow.     

An optimization-based overtaking model for unidirectional pedestrian flow

We propose an optimization-based model for simulating the overtaking behaviour in the unidirectional pedestrian flow. A ‘visual area’ is introduced so that agents could receive the information regarding their surroundings and react by choosing one of three options: to move straight on, to dodge to the left, or to dodge to the right. And a side preference of each pedestrian for evading and overtaking is implemented based on traffic ‘social norms’. The model was validated by reproducing the experimentally obtained pedestrian flow patterns. The effects of the initial pedestrian formation on overtaking behaviour and the evacuation time have been analysed in different geometries. The results show that pedestrian flow patterns after overtaking are obviously influenced by both the initial positions and density of the slow pedestrians in the front. Phase changes of pedestrian formation are observed in both experiment and simulations. On the other hand, for sparse pedestrian crowds, the egress time of the fast individuals is mainly impacted by the horizontal distance between the initial positions of the slow pedestrians in the front, especially in the geometry with a bottleneck.     

A modified heuristics-based model for simulating realistic pedestrian movement behavior

Pedestrian movement simulation models are used in various areas, such as building evacuation, transportation engineering, and safety management of large events. It also provides effective means to uncover underlying mechanisms of collective behaviors. In this work, a modified heuristics-based model is presented. In this model, the potential collisions in the moving process are explicitly considered. Meanwhile, a series of simulations is conducted in two typical scenarios to demonstrate the influence of critical parameters on model performance. It is found that when facing a wide obstacle in a corridor, the larger the visual radius, the earlier the pedestrian starts to make a detour. In addition, when a pedestrian observes a large crowd walking toward him, he chooses to make a detour and moves in the flow in a uniform direction. Furthermore, the model can reproduce the lane formation pedestrian flow phenomena in relatively high-density situations. With the increase of pedestrian visual radius and the weight of potential collision resistance, more stable pedestrian lanes and fewer moving-through-the-counterflow pedestrians can be observed. In terms of model validation, the density-speed relationship of simulation results accords well with that of the published empirical data. Our results demonstrate that the modified heuristics-based model can overcome the deficiency of the original model, and reproduce more realistic pedestrian movement behavior.     

双出口房间人群疏散的实验研究和数学建模

本文设计了一个双出口房间内人群疏散的实验方案,通过不同条件下疏散过程的实况录像及视频检测,得到不同人数疏散时间的许多定量结果.提出了双出口房间吸引区间的概念,证明了较小出口吸引区间的边界总是一段圆弧,可以解释行人流出口处的圆形成拱现象.通过类比地铁候车厅内人群疏散过程,建立了双出口房间内疏散时间的二次函数模型,成功拟合不同条件下的实测数据.疏散人数较少时,疏散时间随着人数增加而线性增长;人数较多,在出口附近出现待行区域时,疏散时间则呈二次函数增长.与一些已知疏散时间数学模型相比,本文模型对出口宽度变化的反应更敏感.     

The excluded-volume effect in microscopic pedestrian simulations

We propose a pedestrian position update rule,which is added to a microscopic pedestrian model to avoid pedestrian overlap.In the rule,the step size of a pedestrian moving in a selected direction at each update is in inverse proportion to the repulsive actions imposed by other pedestrians moving in a direction with an exponential rate.The positions of the pedestrians are then updated in each small time interval.In this way,a barrier between the pedestrians can be generated,and after updating their positions the pedestrians do not overlap with each other.The modified model is compared to the original model through a simulation of the evacuation process of pedestrians in a closed area.The simulation results indicate that the modified model is superior to the original model in several aspects.     

The excluded-volume effect in microscopic pedestrian simulations

We propose a pedestrian position update rule, which is added to a microscopic pedestrian model to avoid pedestrian overlap. In the rule, the step size of a pedestrian moving in a selected direction at each update is in inverse proportion to the repulsive actions imposed by other pedestrians moving in a direction with an exponential rate. The positions of the pedestrians are then updated in each small time interval. In this way, a barrier between the pedestrians can be generated, and after updating their positions the pedestrians do not overlap with each other. The modified model is compared to the original model through a simulation of the evacuation process of pedestrians in a closed area. The simulation results indicate that the modified model is superior to the original model in several aspects.     

Lattice-gas simulation of escaping pedestrian flow in corridor

A lattice-gas model of biased-random walkers is used to simulate the escaping pedestrian flow under the open boundary condition in corridor. Given that the total number of people is unchanging, we have studied the evolution of pedestrian flow by varying parameters of system size. Relationships between parameters of system size and the transition time are discussed in this paper. Scaling behaviour is found as follows: the transition time t_c scales as t_c∝W^{-0.85±0.04}, and t_c∝D, where W is the width of corridor, and D is the strength of drift. However, the other parameters are found to have little influence on the transition time.     

Bottleneck effects on the bidirectional crowd dynamics

The bottleneck effect on bidirectional crowd dynamics is of great theoretical and practical significance, especially for the designing of corridors in public places, such as subway stations or airports. Based on the famous social force model, this paper investigates the bottleneck effects on the free flow dynamics and breakdown phenomenon under different scenarios, in which different corridor shapes and inflow ratios are considered simultaneously. Numerical simulation finds an interesting self-organization phenomenon in the bidirectional flow, a typical characteristic of such a phenomenon is called lane formation, and the existence of which is independent of the corridor's shape and inflow rate. However, the pattern of the lane formed by pedestrian flow is related to the corridor's shape, and the free flow efficiency has close relationship with the inflow rate. Specifically, breakdown phenomenon occurs when inflows from both sides of the corridor are large enough, which mostly originates from the bottleneck and then gradually spreads to the other regions. Simulation results further indicate that the leaving efficiency becomes low as breakdown occurs, and the degree of congestion is proportional to the magnitude of inflow. The findings presented in this paper match well with some of our daily observations, hence it is possible to use them to provide us with theoretical suggestions in design of infrastructures.     

Simulation of pedestrian evacuation based on an improved dynamic parameter model

An improved dynamic parameter model is presented based on cellular automata. The dynamic parameters, including direction parameter, empty parameter, and cognition parameter, are formulated to simplify tactically the process of making decisions for pedestrians. The improved model reflects the judgement of pedestrians on surrounding conditions and the action of choosing or decision. According to the two-dimensional cellular automaton Moore neighborhood we establish the pedestrian moving rule, and carry out corresponding simulations of pedestrian evacuation. The improved model considers the impact of pedestrian density near exits on the evacuation process. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate that the improvement makes sense due to the fact that except for the spatial distance to exits, people also choose an exit according to the pedestrian density around exits. The impact factors α, β, and γ are introduced to describe transition payoff, and their optimal values are determined through simulation. Moreover, the effects of pedestrian distribution, pedestrian density, and the width of exits on the evacuation time are discussed. The optimal exit layout, i.e., the optimal position and width, is offered. The comparison between the simulated results obtained with the improved model and that from a previous model and experiments indicates that the improved model can reproduce experimental results well. Thus, it has great significance for further study, and important instructional meaning for pedestrian evacuation so as to reduce the number of casualties.     

拥堵疏散的行人拥挤力仿真研究

基于元胞自动机仿真研究拥堵疏散条件下行人拥挤力的产生、传递、吸收、抵消、累积等过程, 以安全出口前拱形的拥挤疏散行人流为研究对象, 研究拥挤致伤的生成机理. 基于行人位置距安全出口的距离, 生成趋于安全出口方向的拥挤力; 引入拥挤力效果与合力参数, 分别描述外界拥挤力对个体行人的作用效果与作用合力; 引入吸收系数与抗死伤系数, 分别描述拥挤力传递过程中行人对外界拥挤力的吸收与抵抗能力. 研究表明, 随吸收系数或抗死伤系数的增加, 能有效预防疏散行人流的拥挤致伤; 存在临界吸收系数与抗死伤系数, 将系统区分为弱保护相位、强保护相位和完全保护相位; 拥挤的死伤数量随疏散行人数量的增加而增加; 而且, 拥挤致伤的危险区域在安全出口前以安全出口中心线为对称轴呈“倒钟”形分布.     

基于教室人群疏散实验的行人流建模和模拟

基于教室人群疏散实验, 从中归纳出疏散过程中行人的基本运动特征. 将桌椅分别视为不可穿越和可穿越的静态障碍物, 而行人则被当成可移动的障碍物, 这将导致背景场随人群的运动而动态更新, 因此可以更好地反映前方拥挤程度对后面人群路径选择行为的影响. 采用基于动态背景场的元胞自动机模型研究了不同桌椅排列和出口宽度的教室人群疏散过程, 给出了疏散时间的空间分布以及平均和最大疏散时间, 再现了实验中人群疏散的基本特征. 数值模拟结果表明, 疏散时间取决于桌椅的排列方式和教室出口的宽度. 对于同一种排列, 出口越小则疏散时间越长; 对于给定的出口宽度, 通常随着过道数的增加, 疏散时间随之减少; 当过道数增加且过道宽度不足以两人并行, 从两侧进入过道的行人会发生冲突, 使疏散效率有所降低; 靠近出口一侧墙壁设置过道有利于人群的疏散. 文中进一步分析了模拟与实验结果存在差异的原因.     

The fundamental diagram of pedestrian model with slow reaction

The slow-to-start models are a classical cellular automata model in simulating vehicle traffic. However, to our knowledge, the slow-to-start effect has not been considered in modeling pedestrian dynamics. We verify the similar behavior between pedestrian and vehicle, and propose an new lattice gas (LG) model called the slow reaction (SR) model to describe the pedestrian’s delayed reaction in single-file movement. We simulate and reproduce Seyfried’s field experiments at the Research Centre Jülich, and use its empirical data to validate our SR model. We compare the SR model with the standard LG model. We tested different probabilities of slow reaction _ps$p_s$ in the SR model and found the simulation data of _ps=0.3$p_s=0.3$ fit the empirical data best. The RMS error of the mean velocity of the SR model is smaller than that of the standard LG model. In the range of _ps=0.1–0.3$p_s=0.1–0.3$, our fundamental diagram between velocity and density by simulation coincides with field experiments. The distribution of individual velocity in the fundamental diagram in the SR model agrees with the empirical data better than that of the standard LG model. In addition, we observe stop-and-go waves and phase separation in pedestrian flow by simulation. We reproduced the phenomena of uneven distribution of interspaces by the SR model while the standard LG model did not. The SR model can reproduce the evolution of spatio-temporal structures of pedestrian flow with higher fidelity to Seyfried’s experiments than the standard LG model.     

步行通道内行人流拉链现象的生成机理与仿真研究

以步行通道内的单向行人流为研究对象,分析研究行人拉链现象的生成机理,并建立基于Voronoi图的速度修正模型对其仿真研究.首先,从行人追求视野最佳和步行舒适的角度分析拉链现象的生成机理,以行人的视野关注和视野遮挡描述影响行人移动过程中产生拉链偏移的因素;以行人局部密度描述行人的步行舒适度;引入拉链敏感系数描述行人客观偏移的意愿程度;提出单个行人侧向偏移的机制,获得行人最佳的偏移位置.然后,构建基于Voronoi图的行人速度修正仿真模型,考虑行人是否有偏移倾向的主观意愿,并嵌入偏移规则,模拟再现行人的拉链现象.仿真发现:行人的拉链层数与通道宽度成正比,该模型速度密度关系图与实证数据吻合较好;与不考虑拉链效应相比,倾向主动进行侧向偏移的行人占比越大,越有助于提高通道内行人的移动速度、舒适度和空间利用率.     

Modeling walking behavior of pedestrian groups with floor field cellular automaton approach

Walking in groups is very common in a realistic walking environment. An extended floor field cellular automaton(CA)model is therefore proposed to describe the walking behavior of pedestrian groups. This model represents the motion of pedestrian groups in a realistic way. The simulation results reveal that the walking behavior of groups has an important but negative influence on pedestrian flow dynamics, especially when the density is at a high level. The presence of pedestrian groups retards the emergence of lane formation and increases the instability of operation of pedestrian flow. Moreover,the average velocity and volume of pedestrian flow are significantly reduced due to the group motion. Meanwhile, the parameter-sensitive analysis suggests that pedestrian groups should make a compromise between efficient movement and staying coherent with a certain spatial structure when walking in a dense crowd.     

基于元胞传输模型的楼梯区域行人运动

针对楼梯区域行人运动进行观测实验,获得行人上下楼过程中的运动数据,通过对数据进行整理与分析,绘制不同过程中流量-密度变化关系图.通过对流密关系图进行定量分析,掌握楼梯区域行人运动特征,并改进原有元胞传输模型,提出楼梯行人运动模型,仿真模拟行人运动过程.模型中,引入势能修正系数,利用异向行人对元胞势能的影响来改变行人的路径选择;引入流量修正系数,描述不同的物理参数对元胞边界最大流量的影响;引入偏移系数,修正移动规则,增强优先方向对行人路径选择行为的影响.然后,通过比较仿真结果与实验数据,对模型及引入参数进行验证和校准.最后,利用校正模型,模拟研究楼梯区域对向行人运动过程,并对势能修正参数进行了灵敏度分析,进一步研究模型参数对行人运动的影响.研究表明,该模型可以模拟刻画楼梯区域行人运动过程,同时验证了楼梯区域行人集散效率跟行人到达率与行人路径选择有关.     

三维空间行人疏散的元胞自动机模型

为了有效刻画行人在三维空间中的疏散状况,结合阶梯因素提出了一种新的三维元胞自动机模型,该模型首先基于位置吸引力和碰撞可能性给出了行人移动概率的计算公式,并通过定义元胞演化过程阐述其疏散策略,同时,利用建立的仿真平台进行实验,深入分析了疏散时间、出口流率、出口宽度、初始行人密度以及系统平均速度之间的关系,以此获得更加符合实际情况的行人流特征,结果表明,疏散时间、出口流率与初始行人密度呈现正相关,而与出口宽度呈现负相关,并且系统平均速度和出口宽度对于最优疏散时间存在一个理想阈值。     

Simulation of pedestrian flow based on cellular automata: A case of pedestrian crossing street at section in China

One of the purposes of pedestrian studies is to evaluate the effects of a proposed program on the pedestrian facilities before its implementation. In order to evaluate the level of service (LOS) of a pedestrian facility, a microscopic model is built to simulate the process of pedestrian crossing street. Most of the existing models focus on the occupant evacuation flow in buildings; however, they are not appropriate for pedestrians in the traffic. According to the characteristics of pedestrian crossing street at signalized crosswalks, we build a model based on cellular automata. Both of the system size and cell size are coordinate with the reality. Depending on the contrast of three parameters of pedestrian flow between simulation data and the reality data, we found that this model is analogous to the real process of pedestrian crossing street at signalized sections. Finally, simulation and its results can provide guidance for evaluating the effects of pedestrian facilities before their implementation.     

Simulation of pedestrian evacuation strategies under limited visibility

Evacuation process under limited visibility is different from that under good visibility. To investigate the evacuation efficiency under limited visibility, different evacuation strategies including walking along the wall (S1), following the average movement direction (S2) and following the average position (S3) are proposed in this paper. Performances of these strategies under different visibilities, densities and exit widths are compared based on a revised social force model. Simulation results show that strategy S1 is more effective at low densities while strategy S2 and S3 are more efficient at high densities. It is noted that strategy S2 outperforms S3 under the same condition. In addition, strategy S1 is not sensitive to the change of exit width due to the movement mode of walking along the wall, while the following strategies (S2 and S3) have a better performance under the wide exit condition. The evacuation time for different proportions of pedestrians adopting one strategy in the mixed strategy situation is investigated and the optimal mixture proportion is also discussed. This study provides a new insight into the effect of different evacuation strategies on pedestrian evacuation, which is helpful for evacuees or organizers of public events to make an efficient evacuation plan under limited visibility.     

可压流体Rayleigh-Taylor不稳定性的离散Boltzmann模拟

使用离散Boltzmann模型模拟了可压流体系统中多模初始情况下的Rayleigh-Taylor不稳定性.该离散Boltzmann模型等效于一个Navier-Stokes模型外加一个关于热动非平衡行为的粗粒化模型.通过模拟Riemann问题:Sod激波管、冲击波碰撞和热Couette流问题验证模型的有效性,所得数值结果与解析解一致.利用该模型对界面间断随机多模初始扰动的可压Rayleigh-Taylor不稳定性进行数值模拟研究,得到不稳定性界面演化过程的基本图像.由于黏性和热传导共同作用,一开始扰动界面被"抹平",演化较慢;随着模式互相耦合而减少,演化开始加速,并经历非线性小扰动阶段和不规则非线性阶段,而后发展成典型的"蘑菇状",后期进入湍流混合阶段.由于扰动模式的耦合与发展,轻重流体的重力势能、压缩能与动能相互转化,系统先是趋于热动平衡态,而后偏离热动平衡态以线性形式增长,接着再次趋于热动平衡态,最后慢慢远离热动平衡态.