Safe Evacuation Of People Research Articles

СТРУКТУРНАЯ СХЕМА СИСТЕМЫ ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ ЭВАКУАЦИЕЙ

In an emergency, such as a fire or a terrorist attack, an important aspect is the safe evacuation of people. The unpredictability of the situation makes the task of emergency evacuation one of the main problems. The development of artificial intelligence technologies opens up possible promising ways of developing evacuation management systems. An intelligent evacuation management system can help track the movement and coordinates of people and related critical factors during the evacuation process (for example, slowing down traffic along the paths, blocking the paths, etc.). The study is devoted to the construction of a decision support system for the evacuation of people from buildings based on the results of modeling the development of a fire, intelligent forecasting of the evacuation time in the conditions of the current situation during a fire. The system allows dynamically forming optimal evacuation routes in a changing situation. The proposed results allow us to further move on to the development of an automated intelligent evacuation management system, which will ensure increased safety for evacuees, regardless of evacuation scenarios and the current situation in the building.

Fire propagation-driven dynamic intelligent evacuation model in multifloor hybrid buildings

Modern multifloor hybrid (MFH) buildings usually have complex structures and intense closeness, significantly increasing difficulties for the safe evacuation ofpeople in the event of an accidental fire occurrence. Facing the incapacities of traditional evacuation strategies in pointing out the most reasonable evacuation paths in such MFH buildings, it is necessary to study the intelligent evacuation process considering the fire propagation, architectural features, optimal path, and dynamic guidance. To determine the optimal dynamic evacuation strategy after an accidental fire occurrence in MFH buildings, this study proposes a fire propagation-driven dynamic intelligent evacuation (FPDDIE) model. The FPDDIE model includes the optimal path planning method, evacuation time prediction model based on the stacking integration strategy and framework design of active instructions. Among them, the evacuation time prediction model can help people choose safe paths. Finally, a large gymnasium is taken as a real case study to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and method. The results obtained from the numerical analysis and simulations indicate that the overall evacuation time of the crowd is reduced, the prediction error of individual evacuation time is acceptable and the path replanning can ensure evacuation safety in some fire scenarios.

Исследования характеристик пожарной опасности паркетов исторических объектов с массовым пребыванием людей

Introduction. To find out the influence of historical parquet floor on the safe evacuation of people in cultural heritage objects, it is necessary to carry out a mathematical modelling of fire hazard propagation with the initial parameters of the existing combustible load. The purpose of the article is to consider the experimentally derived fire hazard characteristics of historical wood compared to the required values for flooring on evacuation routes and in museum halls. To compare the values of the smoke-developed index and the net heat of combustion with those available in the reference literature. M aterials and methods . To study the fire hazard characteristics of historical floor coverings, the dies of existing parquet floor with a service life of about 160 years in the halls of the Winter Palace at the State Hermitage Museum were selected as specimens. Experimental determinations of the indicators were carried out on the appropriate test equipment using standard methods. Results and discuss ion. Analysis of the results of the research shows that the fire hazard characteristics of historical wood do not meet the legally established requirements for floor coverings in halls in terms of their smoke-forming capacity and flammability, and in corridors and foyer halls in terms of their smoke-forming capacity . The smoke-forming capacity values obtained experimentally differ from the reference values used to calculate the dynamics of the build-up of the DFF in the buildings of museums and exhibitions. In addition, the values of the net heat of combustion obtained in the study differ from those given in the reference literature. Conclusions. An estimation of the results of the carried out research and the available indexes in the reference literature allows to assert necessity of carrying out of scientific experiments for definition of characteristics of fire hazard of wood of historical objects with the purpose of formation of the reference database of characteristics of fire hazard of materials, used in museums, located in palaces — objects of cultural heritage. The use of refined reference data will improve the accuracy of calculations of individual fire risk on historical objects.

Study on emergency evacuation in underground urban complexes.

With progressive urbanization and the development and utilization of urban underground space, underground urban complexes (UUCs) have been increasingly used. UUCs have brought much convenience to people's lives. However, due to their enclosed nature and complexity, it has been an urgent issue to avoid (or reduce) casualties and allow rapid and safe evacuation of people during an emergency. In this study, the evacuation simulation software Pathfinder was used. Based on the steering model, the variation of the total evacuation time and pedestrian flow at main exits with different simulated evacuation measures, congestion at key nodes and people's path selection were compared and analyzed. Then, the critical locations in the spatial layout of UUCs that were prone to evacuation bottleneck effects were focused on and determined. The evacuation effectiveness of UUCs in an emergency was studied to investigate the problems of emergency evacuation in UUCs. It is found that in UUCs, the bottleneck effects were likely to occur at stairway entrances and exits as well as supermarket checkout counters and caused severe congestion. These locations should be focused on during emergency evacuation. For key locations prone to evacuation bottlenecks, increasing the width of exits or setting up auxiliary evacuation channels could be an effective measure to improve evacuation efficiency. In addition, formulating rational evacuation rules can be a favorable measure for emergency evacuation. However, during the evacuation, the herd mentality in people has an uncertain (positive or negative) impact on evacuation effectiveness. Setting up diversion walls may improve evacuation efficiency and reduce congestion to a certain extent, while evacuation confusion and chaos are prone to occur after diversion. These findings in this study have significant implications for improving the emergency management of UUCs.

Effect of computational grid cell size and heterogeneity of computing area for estimated fire detection time

Introduction . In Russia, based on the provisions of the current regulatory documents, the time for the start of evacuation for a room in which a fire broke out is determined depending on the area of the room. According to some authors, the time of the start of the evacuation of people is a combination of “technical”, which includes the time of detection of a fire, and “psychophysical”, determined by the behavioral and organizational characteristics of the people who make it up. The fire detection time is currently not taken into account. Purpose . Evaluation of the influence of the size of the cells of the computational grid and the inhomogeneity of the computational domain on the estimated time of fire detection. Aims. 1. Establish the qualitative nature of the influence of the size of the cells of the computational grid and the inhomogeneity of the computational domain on the estimated time of fire detection. 2. Offer recommendations for determining the estimated time of fire detection. Methods . For research, computer simulation methods were used using the Fire Dynamics Simulator software package. Results and discussion . The use of grids with different cell sizes can significantly reduce the number of cells in the computational domain and, as a result, the computation time. However, this leads to rather contradictory results. The minimum time values are reduced by almost 3–4 times compared to a homogeneous computational grid, and the maximum time increases by 2 times. Conclusions . 1. The size of the cells of the computational grid and the inhomogeneity of the computational domain have a significant impact on the time of fire detection. 2. A sufficiently large spread in the values of the estimated fire detection time may indicate an unreliable estimate of the total time for the start of evacuation and incorrect conclusions about the safe evacuation of people and/or the probability of evacuation of people. 3. For a correct estimate of the evacuation start time, taken into account the estimated fire detection time, it is recommended to use homogeneous computational grids with cell sizes not exceeding 0.25 m.

Fiber acoustic control system for assisting jettison bladder type fuel cell of MI-8 helicopter in emergency conditions

To date, there is a problem with the safe operation of aircraft, namely with the safe evacuation of people in flight mode and during their landing from aircraft. The article discusses aspects of the use of fiber-optic and aeroacoustic technologies built into the general concept of a fiber-acoustic control system for assistance in safely jettison or dropping a bladder type fuel cell from a helicopter fuselage in an aviation emergency. The ability to control the parameters of speed, temperature, acoustic and optical noise, in case of deviation of the geometry of their bladder type fuel cell shapes, with an increase in speed, or critical pitch, shifting the level at which it is possible to drop filled bladder type fuel cell to enable a hard landing of an aircraft in an emergency.

Проблемы обеспечения своевременной эвакуации людей из зданий общеобразовательных организаций

Статья посвящена проблеме противопожарной защиты объектов просвещения с учетом требований Федерального закона «Технический регламент о требованиях пожарной безопасности», постановления Правительства Российской Федерации, которым утверждены Правила проведения расчетов по оценке пожарного риска. Рассмотрены вопросы определения необходимого времени эвакуации людей из общеобразовательных организаций при пожаре. Проанализированы требования нормативных правовых документов в области пожарной безопасности. The article is devoted to the actual topic of providing conditions for the safe evacuation of people from educational institutions. The analysis of the requirements of regulatory legal documents in the field of fire safety and statistical data on fires is carried out. The issue of improving the level of fire protection of educational facilities was planned to consider at the meeting of the Government Commission for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations and Ensuring Fire Safety during the Board Meeting on the results of the Ministry’s work on the main areas of activity in 2020 and on the tasks for 2021 of EMERCOM of Russia. Moreover, the President of the Russian Federation instructed the Government of the Russian Federation to introduce a unified approach to ensuring the security and anti-terrorist protection of educational organizations in the very near future in May of this year. The supervisory authorities of the EMERCOM of Russia conduct practical training on evacuation of people regularly, but for their successful implementation it is necessary for each head of educational organization to know what time is allocated for organizing and conducting the necessary evacuation of people during fire at the facility. Article 53 of Federal Law No. 123 of 22.07.2008 “Technical Regulations on fire safety requirements” defines that the safe evacuation of people from buildings and structures in case of fire is provided if the time interval from the moment of fire detection to the completion of people evacuation to a safe area does not exceed the required time for evacuation of people in case of fire. The buildings of educational organizations were designed at different times, respectively, the objects have different layouts, number of floors, and degree of fire resistance. Therefore the individual approach to each object of protection is necessary to determine the essential evacuation time. Determining the time of people evacuation from buildings and premises will have a positive impact on the effectiveness of practical training, will help to determine whether people have time to evacuate from the building at prescribed time. The Rules for conducting calculations on fire risk assessment is approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1084 dated July 22, 2020. The Methodology for determining the calculated values of fire risk in buildings, structures and fire compartments of various classes of functional fire hazard is approved by the Order of EMERCOM of Russia No. 382 dated June 30, 2009 (as amended by Order of EMERCOM of Russia No. 632 of 02.12.2015). This Methodology establishes the procedure for determining the necessary time for the people evacuation from the objects of protection. The implemented work will allow the bodies of the state fire supervision of EMERCOM of Russia to increase the quality index of administration of control and supervisory functions at the objects of protection of this category.

Tent fabric used by seasonal children’s camps: fire risk assessment

Introduction. The use of fireproof tent fabric at children’s tent camps remains a relevant problem. It may be resolved by developing a special flammability assessment methodology and criteria applicable to materials, used as the structural framework of tents. This solution will determine the choice of fabric.Aims and purposes. Materials, currently used to make tents, include natural or synthetic fabric and various polymers, that may be a fire hazard. In case of fire, safe evacuation of people may be unfeasible, although it is particularly important for children’s seasonal tent camps designated for sports and leisure.Domestic regulatory documents, that are currently in force, contain solely general technical requirements applicable to travel tents or ensuring fire safety in the territory of children’s tent camps, but there are neither fire safety requirements applicable to tent materials, nor any methods of their assessment. Meanwhile, there were cases of fire at children’s tent camps.The purpose of this work is to establish fire safety requirements applicable to tent materials used at children’s tent camps, to develop their testing criteria and methodology.The main objectives to be accomplished in order to achieve the pre-set purpose include the analysis of effective regulatory requirements and methods used to determine the flammability of tent materials, the establishment of parameters and criteria designated for their assessment and the development of a standard testing methodology.Results and discussion. Experimental studies were carried out to assess a set of flammability-related parameters of several types of fabric and polymers used to make outer/inner tents and ground sheets. It has been determined that currently used materials are fire-hazardous; therefore, it is advisable to limit the production of tents from combustible and flammable materials whose combustion may be triggered by low-calorie ignition sources, including those that can melt or release toxic combustion products.Currently used standard methods were applied to develop modified methodologies and classification criteria needed to assess the flammability of tent materials for children’s summer camps; experimental studies were also carried out.Conclusions. A draft national standard has been developed; it implies the establishment of the flammability assessment methodology and criteria and restricts the use of tent materials, that are extremely hazardous in terms of the toxicity of their combustion products.

СВОЕВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭВАКУАЦИЯ ЛЮДЕЙ ПРИ ПОЖАРАХ ИЗ ЗДАНИЙ ОБЩЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫХ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЙ

Purpose. The authors of the article deal with a very topical issue - providing safe evacuation of people from general educational institutions in case of fire. The authors propose their solutions how to provide the conditions for safe evacuation of people from schools and preschools when a fire breaks out, including changes and amendments to codes and regulations in the field of fire safety. Methods. The requirements laid down in fire codes and regulations have been analyzed in the article, the statistical data on fires in socially significant facilities for the period 2019-2020 are presented. Findings. The analysis of the statistical data about fires in schools and preschools, about fatalities and injured people in these fires leads to the conclusion that supervision bodies of EMERCOM of Russia must focus their attention on training teaching staff and schoolchildren in matters regarding fire safety, as well as conducting fire drills on the timely evacuation of children. The authors emphasize the necessity to determine time factor for conducting hands-on training on evacuation of schoolchildren and suggest indicating in the evacuation plan time value needed to evacuate people, during which it is required to leave the floor (building) after the fire alarm signal to start evacuation. Besides these proposals, the authors suggest some changes and amendments to fire safety codes and regulations aimed at minimizing possible fires at facilities of this category to be protected. Research application field. The authors consider it appropriate to recommend to fire safety specialists to conduct fire drills on evacuating people from premises accommodating large numbers of people on the example of several facilities to be protected (a school, a preschool) taking into account the required time for evacuation. In accordance with the findings of the research it is possible to work out "Methodology on organizing and conducting fire evacuation drills". Conclusions. Specifying the time required for evacuation of people from buildings and premises will have a positive impact on the effectiveness of fire drills, will help determine whether people are able to evacuate at a well-defined time. It is reasonable to conduct similar research for other types of premises accommodating large numbers of people - healthcare institutions, social protection institutions and cultural institutions.

ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПРОЕКТИРОВАНИЯ ЗОН БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ ДЛЯ МАЛОМОБИЛЬНЫХ ГРУПП НАСЕЛЕНИЯ

The article discusses the regulatory requirements for security zones, especially for the calculation of its area. Using the example of the Three Sisters rehabilitation center, located in the Moscow region, the actual required area of the security zone required for one person of the M4 population with limited mobility is considered. The number of patients with reduced mobility in rehabilitation insti-tutions exceeds at least twice. The evacuation of the M1-M3 mobility groups is considered via stairwells directly to the outside. Fullscale observations of the evacuation of people along horizontal paths to the safety zones were carried out to establish the evacuation time and the capacity of the safety zones. In the Pathfinder software product, a three-dimensional computer model of the buildings of the protection object was developed, taking into account the data obtained from field observations to assess the safe evacuation of people.

Field modeling of the fire dynamics as an answer to the question about the fire alarm performance

Introduction. The performance of a fire alarm needs to be analyzed to answer the question about its compliance with fire safety requirements. This type of research is frequently performed in the course of a forensic fire investigation. Therefore, it is necessary to identify conditions of fire escalation and safe evacuation of people to assess the fire alarm performance.Purposes and objectives. The purpose of this work is the numerical study of the impact, produced by mathematical models of combustion, characteristics of fire loads and locations of fire beds, on fire alarm performance. Methods. Fire dynamics was field modeled to achieve the goal of this research. The analysis of flame propagation was performed with regard for various fire bed locations to simulate the fire alarm operation.Results and discussion. The fulfillment of safe evacuation conditions for cases of irregular arrangement of smoke detectors was analyzed to develop and test the algorithm for the calculation of the evacuation start time. It is shown that the estimated time of fire detection depends on combustion models employed (their average or complex level), the size of the computational grid, fire load specifications and the location of the fire bed.Conclusions. It is shown that the results of the field modeling of fire propagation and detection time are influenced by combustion models used, fire load specifications and the location of the fire bed in relation to smoke detectors. If the fire alarm fails to perform its functions and, consequently, safe evacuation conditions are not fulfilled, it is necessary either to improve the combustion model or to compare the modeling results obtained for actual and standard smoke detector location patterns.

Роль декоративно-отделочных, облицовочных материалов стен и потолков, покрытий полов в развитии пожара и формировании его опасных факторов

Проанализирована роль декоративно-отделочных, облицовочных материалов и покрытий полов в формировании опасных факторов пожара (ОФП). Проведены расчеты распространения ОФП в модельном помещении с учетом вклада облицовочного материала стен и потолка. Показана возможность применения рассмотренного подхода для моделирования условий (стандартных и нестандартных) испытаний строительных материалов и конструкций на пожарную опасность (например, фасадных систем) и гибкого нормирования при использовании декоративно-отделочных, облицовочных материалов и покрытий полов в зданиях и сооружениях.Article presents the study of the possibility to describe thermal decomposition and thermal oxidation processes of fire load finishing materials by means of the kinetic parameters. These parameters are defined by results of termogravimetric analysis for modeling the dynamics of fire development. Nowadays the problem of modeling the distribution of hazardous fire factors (HFF) in buildings and constructions has wide practical application, however techniques of HFF modeling do not take into account as fire load finishing and facing materials of building and construction premises in development of a fire, so they are not considered at an estimation of safe evacuation of people from buildings and constructions as well as at calculation of fire risk, too. When describing a seat of fire there are used fire hazard indicators having essential uncertainty according to the technical literature sources and experimental data while formation should be based on the possibility of their thermodestruction and thermooxidation under the influence of heat loads of various intensity. At the same time, the speed of the specified processes should be interconnected with values of heat loads. The presented work is of current importance because it is necessary to describe thermodestruction and thermooxidation processes of fire load material at modeling the dynamics of HFF distribution in buildings and constructions by means of kinetic parameters received as the results of thermogravimetric analysis. On the example of calcium silicate and wood composition there are carried out calculations of HFF distribution in a test premise taking into account the contribution of wall and ceiling facing material. There is shown the prevailing, in comparison with a seat of fire, contribution of wall and ceiling facing material to HFF formation at its initial stage which is especially important from the point of view of ensuring safe evacuation of people at fire in buildings and constructions. On the basis of the conducted analysis of research results there are developed proposals for applying the considered approach to model conditions for (standard and non-standard) tests of building materials and structures for fire hazard (for example, front systems) and flexible rationing of use of decorative - finishing and facing materials as well as floor coverings in buildings and structures.

METHODS AND MODELS OF SAFETY-FOCUSED STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT IN CIVIL PROTECTION PROJECTS

The information analysis of successful practices of implementation of life safety projects was conducted, which allowed determining necessary models and methods of safety-focused stakeholders management in civil protection projects. Fire risk assessment at public gathering places has shown that the risks of human deaths in such structures to a large extent depend on the duration of the maximum permissible values of dangerous fire factors, which make it impossible to conduct safe evacuation of people. Improving the effectiveness of the implementation of the program for the creation and development of a security system at public gathering places, which include protective structures, requires the use of methods and models based on the use of information technology, system approach and security-focused man-agement. To construct stakeholder management models, based on the analysis of causative relationships and the use of the Japanese P2M knowledge system, a conceptual model of security-focused project management in the civil protec-tion system was initially constructed, which takes into account: the state of the turbulent environment of civil protection projects implementation, scale of emergency situation, key factors for the success of civil protection projects implemen-tation, regulatory framework of Ukraine and world methodologies for project management, physiological and physio-logical condition of people, strategic objectives, and performance indicators. Stakeholder management models reflect the evacuation routes of traffic flows from the public gathering places to the shelter facility, as well as the parameters that influence the movement of people in separate evacuation areas that need to be taken into account when calculating the time of implementation of civil protection projects. Using system analysis and topological synthesis of flexible technological lines, the mathematical apparatus describing the stakeholder management in civil protection project, the requirements of the regulatory framework for ensuring safety of people in protective structures, the calculation of opti-mal placement of people in the shelter facilities, which makes it possible to implement the project of ensuring the safety of people at the public gathering places in the neighborhood of the Lviv State University of Life Safety.

A Study of The Upstream-downstream Interface in End-to-end Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation Systems

The tsunami early warning and mitigation systems are typically used to detect the tsunami inundation before the impact so that vulnerable communities can be alerted and the damage can be minimized. These systems typically entail upstream and downstream processes, starting from the detection of tsunami wave and finishing with safe evacuation of people. There is an interface between upstream and downstream mechanisms where the warning is issued and the decision to evacuate people are taken. In individual countries, the system by which the information is disseminated from a national point to individual communities varies significantly. Due to the complex nature of different administrative systems, it is difficult to understand who takes the decision to evacuate, at which point and how is it taken. This paper is the first part of a more extensive study undertaken to understand and evaluate the interface between the upstream and downstream mechanisms of the tsunami early warning system. The objective of the paper is to present the findings of a literature review conducted as an initial step to the above study and to understand state of the art and practices related to the interface of an end-to-end tsunami warning and mitigation system. The literature is grouped and analyzed using the conceptual analysis method, in order to understand the concepts related to the tsunami early warning system, mainly focusing on the issues pertaining to the interface. Through the literature review, a conceptual framework is developed, presenting nine concepts and their relationships within the interface. This conceptual framework will serve as a strong theoretical foundation for the future steps to be taken under the above study.

A dynamic approach for evacuees' distribution and optimal routing in hazardous environments

Abstract In a complex built environment, the situation changes rapidly during an emergency event. Typically, available systems rely heavily on a static scenario in the calculation of safest routes for evacuation. In addition, egress route calculation and evacuation simulations are performed separately from path-finding for rescue teams. In this paper, we propose a state-of-the-art dynamic approach, which deals not only with a 3D environment, shape of spaces and hazard locations, but also with the dynamic distribution of occupants during evacuation. A database of densities and information about hazard influence are generated and used to calculate optimal paths for rescue teams. Three simulation scenarios were rigorously compared in this study, namely static with constant density values determined for subsequent stages of evacuation, semi-dynamic with densities representing an actual people distribution in a building during evacuation simulation, and dynamic with temporal distribution of evacuees stored in a database, and dynamically used in optimal path calculations. The findings revealed that static simulation is significantly different from semi-dynamic and dynamic simulations, and each type of simulation is better suited for the decision task at hand. These results have significant implications on achieving a rapid and safe evacuation of people during an emergency event.

Время обнаружения очага пожара

According to the normative documents and normative legal acts on fire safety existing in Russian Federations, each building or a construction has to have the space-planning solution and design of evacuation ways providing safe evacuation of people at the fire. Safe evacuation of people from buildings and constructions at the fire is considered provided if time interval from the moment of detection of the fire before completion of process of evacuation of people in a safe zone doesn’t exceed necessary time of evacuation of people at the fire. People begin to be evacuated from the building at the fire later some period which is called time of the beginning of evacuation. This size represents set of “technical” and “psychophysical” components. One of “technical” parts is fire detection time. Conclusion about safe evacuation of people from the building or the value of probability of evacuation of people is defined proceeding from calculation methods in which time of detection of the fire isn’t considered in an explicit form. The purpose of the offered work is fire detection time assessment as period from the beginning of the fire before his detection by means of fire alarm equipment (before achievement of threshold values for fire detectors), on the basis of the modern program complexes used for modeling of dynamics of the fire. It is established that the growth rate of development of the fire is the defining factor influencing both for the period of fire detection and for necessary time of evacuation in general. Not accounting of time of detection of the fire as derivative of growth rate of development of the fire, on the basis of calculation methods, can lead as to increase in necessary time of evacuation, and reduction of time of the beginning of evacuation that in turn involves unauthenticity of the received results.

Models of formation and spread of fire to increase safety of road tunnels

Fire safety of tunnels is an important issue which must be solved carefully during all phases of preparation, building and operation of each road tunnel. In this paper some particular results of a joint research project of the Institute of Informatics of Slovak Academy of Sciences and the University of Zilina are summarized. Some specific phenomena caused by fire in a real highway tunnel in Slovakia endangering safe evacuation of people from the tunnel are illustrated.

Safety criteria for the trafficability of inundated roads in urban floodings

The probability of unexpected urban flood hazards is steadily increasing due to global warming and climate change. Consequently, there is a growing need for safety criteria determining the trafficability of inundated roads to ensure a fast and safe evacuation of people in case of such events. In order to determine those criteria, experimental investigations on the stability of two scaled watertight vehicle models and of one prototype passenger car are conducted in a laboratory flume and a steel tank.The conducted flume experiments clearly show a dependency of vehicle stability on the flow angle, whereas the prototype experiments indicate that floating water depths are higher in prototype than in model scale, which is due to the use of a watertight vehicle model. Based on both experiments, a constant total head is proposed as decisive parameter for determining trafficability. This parameter approximates the measured stability curves and can be easily adopted in practice. Furthermore, it is in accordance with fording depths evaluated from relevant literature or by means of manufacturer inquiry. The recommended safety criteria for passenger cars and emergency vehicles are total heads of hE=0.3m=const. and hE=0.6m=const., respectively.

Building exploration with leeches Hirudo verbana

Safe evacuation of people from building and outdoor environments, and search and rescue operations, always will remain actual in course of all socio-technological developments. Modern facilities offer a range of automated systems to guide residents towards emergency exists. The systems are assumed to be infallible. But what if they fail? How occupants not familiar with a building layout will be looking for exits in case of very limited visibility where tactile sensing is the only way to assess the environment? Analogous models of human behaviour, and socio-dynamics in general, are provided to be fruitful ways to explore alternative, or would-be scenarios. Crowd, or a single person, dynamics could be imitated using particle systems, reaction–diffusion chemical medium, electro-magnetic fields, or social insects. Each type of analogous model offer unique insights on behavioural patterns of natural systems in constrained geometries. In this particular paper we have chosen leeches to analyse patterns of exploration. Reasons are two-fold. First, when deprived from other stimuli leeches change their behavioural modes in an automated regime in response to mechanical stimulation. Therefore leeches can give us invaluable information on how human beings might behave under stress and limited visibility. Second, leeches are ideal blueprints of future soft-bodied rescue robots. Leeches have modular nervous circuitry with a rich behavioral spectrum. Leeches are multi-functional, fault-tolerant with autonomous inter-segment coordination and adaptive decision-making. We aim to answer the question: how efficiently a real building can be explored and whether there any dependencies on the pathways of exploration and geometrical complexity of the building. In our case studies we use templates made on the floor plan of real building.

Study on Fire Smoke Control of Underground Annular Channel

Aiming at the characteristics of many crossroads and large slope of ground exits in Suzhou Underground Annular Channel, fire resistant shutters were advised to set as flexible compartment. The whole channel was divided into 6 smoke control sections by fire resistant shutters and exits and ventilation shafts. The schemes of smoke control and people evacuation were presented. Smoke flow in 6 fire scenes was simulated by FDS 4.0. The results show that fire smoke could be discharged to ground along planned route to ensure the safe evacuation of people and cars, and show that the smoke control schemes are reasonable and effective.