Experimental study on the characteristics of multimerging pedestrians through macroscopic and microscopic analysis

Abstract

Pedestrian merging behavior is one of the most frequently observed complex pedestrian behaviors and has a certain limited impact on evacuation efficiency in emergency situations. However, experimental research on the multiple merging behavior of pedestrians is very limited. To explore the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of multiple-merging under special-angle conditions, this paper studies the pedestrian behavior of the main channel and branches in multiple-merging behavior, and analyzes the microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of pedestrians in the case of multiple merging. The width of the main channel is fixed at 2.4[Formula: see text]m, the angle between the branches and the main channel is 30, and the change in the width of the merging branches is 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6[Formula: see text]m. A total of 171 volunteers participated in the experiment, and UWB equipment was used to extract pedestrian trajectories. Obvious lanes were formed during the experiment, and there were obvious ramps. The density of the double branches is significantly higher than that of the single branch, and the maximum saturation value can reach 3.75[Formula: see text]ped/m2. When the width of the branch becomes narrower, the branch entrance and the main channel block each other. When the width of the branch is narrow enough, the influence of the number of branches on the speed of the branch is reduced. When the number of branches increases, to make the distribution of pedestrians more even, the width of the branches also needs to be increased. We also analyzed the headway distance and found that almost all the volunteers in the experiment were under the free system. The results are helpful for correction of the multimerging simulation model and design improvement of the daily multimerging scene.