Elevator Traffic Simulation

Abstract

Passenger waiting time in a lobby and ride time in a car give a good indication of the service capability of an elevator group. If several cars are in the same group, these parameters are too complicated to model in a closed form. In this paper, procedures for modelling elevator performance and passenger traffic in a generic building are described. Elevator dynamics and control, call allocation and passenger traffic modelling are described. Simulated interval and load values are compared with theoretical results, and variances in simulation results are investigated. According to typical simulation results, there is no direct connection between interval and passenger waiting times, as is often assumed. The interval depends on the elevator bank configuration and elevator performance capabilities. Performance indicators, such as the number of starts and cycle times, become saturated even at low traffic intensities. The waiting times, in addition to elevator performance, depend on the passenger traffic patterns and, during heavy traffic, service level is greatly affected by the call allocation algorithm.