Evaluation of a Performance-Based Design Process for a Hotel Building: The Comparison of Two Egress Models.
Evaluation of a Performance-Based Design Process for a
Hotel Building: The Comparison of Two Egress Models.
(2496 K)
Kuligowski, E. D.
THESIS; 374 p. 2003.
Keywords:
hotels; evacuation; egress; evaluation; scenarios;
evacuation time; people movement; algorithsm; occupants;
stairways; fire models; stairwells; computer models;
human behavior; life safety; validation; simulation;
fire protection engineering; building design; elevators
(lifts); design applications; time; costs; equations;
mass flow; computation; bedrooms
Abstract:
This work emphasizes the importance for egress model
users to choose a model for each project with the
appropriate input features and simulation capabilities.
This report also gives model users a mechanism for
choosing the appropriate model by providing a detailed
egress model review (Chapter 2). Specifically this
report focuses on the ability of two egress models,
EXIT89 and Simulx, to simulate a high-rise hotel
building evacuation. When EXIT89 and Simulex are used to
1) simulate the same design scenarios and 2) perform a
bounding analysis of the hotel building, significant
differences in egress times were identified. EXIT89's
evacuation times were found to be 25-40% lower than
Simulex for the design scenarios, attributed to
differences in unimpeded speeds, movement algorithms,
methods of simulating slow occupants, density in the
stairs, and stair configuration input between the
models. For the bounding analysis, EXIT89 produced
maximum evacuation times 30-40% lower than Simulex.
