Analyzing Emergency Evacuation Strategies For Large Buildings Using Crowd Simulation Framework

The occurrence of natural or man-made emergencies can be quite complex and demand flawless preparedness, through tested strategies, in order to ensure the safety of the individuals. For large-scale infrastructures, whether commercial or residential, having a reliable evacuation strategy is crucial. Formulation and evaluation of these evacuation strategies is however a daunting challenge. In this paper, we propose a Crowd Simulation and Analysis framework for the formulation and evaluation of effective evacuation strategies in large buildings, using real-scale building structures and agent based approach. We further propose an algorithm to devise an evacuation strategy. We first demonstrate the functionality of our algorithm using a simplistic example and then apply the algorithm in a campus evacuation case study using three scenarios. The main goal of this research is to assist regulatory authorities in developing effective disaster management plans through the use of M&S methods and tools.