Performance Simulation of Evacuation Procedures in Post-Crash Aircraft Fires

Abstract

It is crucial to guide airplane passengers in effectively choosing reasonable evacuation exits, according to the consequences of evacuation in post-crash accidents. This paper presents a performance simulation method to analyze the safety of the evacuation procedures. The temperature and the concentration of carbon monoxide are pointed out as the main threats during the evacuation. Thus, the modified formulas of these two hazard factors are defined as the safety lines to measure the overrun of each indicator. The Fire Dynamics Simulator and Pathfinder are used to measure the available safe egress time and the required safe egress time, respectively, for each exit in an A380 aircraft. The available exits are determined to ensure the safety of passengers, based on the time interval between the available safe egress time and the required safe egress time. According to the simulation, the flashover cannot happen within 90 s, and many passengers who choose exits 3 and 5 are in danger during the evacuation. The utilization rates of the three exits in the upper cabin are very low. This paper proposes an optimized evacuation plan to ensure the safety of passengers.