A numerical simulation strategy on occupant evacuation behaviors and casualty prediction in a building during earthquakes

Shuang Li, Xiaohui Yu, Yanjuan Zhang and Changhai Zhai

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2018, vol. 490, issue C, 1238-1250

Abstract: Casualty prediction in a building during earthquakes benefits to implement the economic loss estimation in the performance-based earthquake engineering methodology. Although after-earthquake observations reveal that the evacuation has effects on the quantity of occupant casualties during earthquakes, few current studies consider occupant movements in the building in casualty prediction procedures. To bridge this knowledge gap, a numerical simulation method using refined cellular automata model is presented, which can describe various occupant dynamic behaviors and building dimensions. The simulation on the occupant evacuation is verified by a recorded evacuation process from a school classroom in real-life 2013 Ya’an earthquake in China. The occupant casualties in the building under earthquakes are evaluated by coupling the building collapse process simulation by finite element method, the occupant evacuation simulation, and the casualty occurrence criteria with time and space synchronization. A case study of casualty prediction in a building during an earthquake is provided to demonstrate the effect of occupant movements on casualty prediction.

Keywords: Earthquake; Occupant evacuation; Refined cellular automata model; Building collapse; Casualty prediction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:490:y:2018:i:c:p:1238-1250

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2017.08.058

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