193 – Contributed Poster Presentations: Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences
Evacuation from a Room with Two (contiguous) Exits
Guillermo Frank
Universidad Tecnol´ogica Nacional
Ignacio M. Sticco
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Claudio O. Dorso
Ciudad Universitaria
Building regulations require that more than one exit should be available for a safe evacuation during a panic situation. The "faster is slower" effect is expected to occur close to each exit door. However, rooms having contiguous doors not always improve the evacuation performance. Our research examines the statistical behaviour of escaping pedestrians when two contiguous exits are available, but placed at different separation distances. We found that the evacuation time can be improved if the separation exceeds a threshold distance. This threshold distance is related to changes in the clogging dynamics close to the doors.