An Experimental Study of Ascent and Descent Movement of People on Long Stair with High Occupant Density

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study of the movements of both ascent and descent in a high occupant density 20-level building in order to exploit the characteristics of occupant movement on long stairwells. The movement processes of the participants are recorded in order to estimate both overall and local movement speeds, as well as flow rate and occupant density in the stairwell. When a merging flow is presented, the average movement time from one floor to the next is 35.8 s ± 15.6 s, and 37.3 s ± 10.6 s for ascent and descent movement, respectively. When a merging flow is not presented, the average movement time per floor is 15.1 s ± 0.8 s and 11.9 s ± 0.8 s for the ascent and descent movement. Under congested conditions, the average speeds on long stairwells maintains a relatively constant value of approximately 0.50 m/s ± 0.17 m/s, and 0.61 m/s ± 0.14 m/s for respective ascent and descent movement, while the traveling distance has no obvious impact on speed. Furthermore, the relationship between velocity and density in our observations is in line with linear functions and equations are accordingly proposed.