Fire evacuation integration modelling in subway station using the lattice Boltzmann method

Abstract

Fire evacuation simulations are essential for assessing evacuation schemes in subway stations. However, most studies and practical solutions have primarily focused on the effects of fire smoke on the evacuation behaviour of evacuees. Moreover, these solutions overlook the effects of the movement of evacuees on fire-smoke diffusion; hence, they do not adequately reflect fire–pedestrian interaction. This study addresses this problem by formulating a fire-smoke evolution model using the lattice Boltzmann method to simulate fire smoke from a mesoscopic perspective. The proposed model can reflect fire-smoke diffusion, including the effects of evacuees on the evacuation scheme. The model easily exchanges data with the microscopic pedestrian simulation model. An agent-based evacuation model is formulated using the social force method. The agent can regulate the evacuation states using perceptive environment information. Finally, the models are integrated into one framework to evaluate fire–pedestrian interaction. A simplified fire evacuation scenario based on a two-dimensional subway station platform is simulated using the proposed integration model. The results show that the proposed integration model can simulate the effect of the disturbance of the movement of evacuees on fire-smoke diffusion and evaluate fire–pedestrian interaction.