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Ascending stair evacuation: walking speed as a function of height

Delin, Mattias ; Norén, Johan ; Ronchi, Enrico LU orcid ; Kuklane, Kalev LU ; Halder, Amitava LU and Fridolf, Karl (2017) In Fire and Materials 41(5). p.514-534
Abstract
There is reason to believe that factors such as physical exertion and behavioural changes will influence the ascending walking speed and ultimately the possibility of satisfactory evacuation. To study these effects, a 2-year research project was initiated with the focus on effects of physical exertion on walking speeds, physiological performance and behaviours during long ascending evacuations. Two sets of experiments on human performance during ascending long stairs, with a height of 48 and 109 m, were performed. The results include aspects such as walking speeds, physical exertion (oxygen consumption, heart rates and electromyography data), perceived exertion and behavioural changes, showing that physical work capacity affects walking... (More)
There is reason to believe that factors such as physical exertion and behavioural changes will influence the ascending walking speed and ultimately the possibility of satisfactory evacuation. To study these effects, a 2-year research project was initiated with the focus on effects of physical exertion on walking speeds, physiological performance and behaviours during long ascending evacuations. Two sets of experiments on human performance during ascending long stairs, with a height of 48 and 109 m, were performed. The results include aspects such as walking speeds, physical exertion (oxygen consumption, heart rates and electromyography data), perceived exertion and behavioural changes, showing that physical work capacity affects walking speeds in case of long ascending evacuation and should be considered while using long ascending evacuation. Analysis of both walking and vertical speeds is recommended because it provides additional insights on the impact of stair configuration on vertical displacement and the importance of not using the same value for walking speed for different stairs because the design of the stairs has an impact. The novel datasets presented in this paper are deemed to provide useful information for fire safety engineers both for assisting fire safety design as well as the calibration of evacuation modelling tools. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ascending evacuation, fatigue, physical exertion, walking speed, human behaviour, vertical speed
in
Fire and Materials
volume
41
issue
5
pages
514 - 534
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85010189131
  • wos:000409388500008
ISSN
1099-1018
DOI
10.1002/fam.2410
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
40977193-6fc9-4a8c-8663-005a8269c9fe
date added to LUP
2016-11-10 11:15:13
date last changed
2022-04-01 03:36:31
@article{40977193-6fc9-4a8c-8663-005a8269c9fe,
  abstract     = {{There is reason to believe that factors such as physical exertion and behavioural changes will influence the ascending walking speed and ultimately the possibility of satisfactory evacuation. To study these effects, a 2-year research project was initiated with the focus on effects of physical exertion on walking speeds, physiological performance and behaviours during long ascending evacuations. Two sets of experiments on human performance during ascending long stairs, with a height of 48 and 109 m, were performed. The results include aspects such as walking speeds, physical exertion (oxygen consumption, heart rates and electromyography data), perceived exertion and behavioural changes, showing that physical work capacity affects walking speeds in case of long ascending evacuation and should be considered while using long ascending evacuation. Analysis of both walking and vertical speeds is recommended because it provides additional insights on the impact of stair configuration on vertical displacement and the importance of not using the same value for walking speed for different stairs because the design of the stairs has an impact. The novel datasets presented in this paper are deemed to provide useful information for fire safety engineers both for assisting fire safety design as well as the calibration of evacuation modelling tools.}},
  author       = {{Delin, Mattias and Norén, Johan and Ronchi, Enrico and Kuklane, Kalev and Halder, Amitava and Fridolf, Karl}},
  issn         = {{1099-1018}},
  keywords     = {{ascending evacuation; fatigue; physical exertion; walking speed; human behaviour; vertical speed}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{514--534}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Fire and Materials}},
  title        = {{Ascending stair evacuation: walking speed as a function of height}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fam.2410}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/fam.2410}},
  volume       = {{41}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}