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Frontiers of Engineering Management

ISSN 2095-7513

ISSN 2096-0255(Online)

CN 10-1205/N

Postal Subscription Code 80-905

Front. Eng    2021, Vol. 8 Issue (1) : 135-147    https://doi.org/10.1007/s42524-020-0125-1
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evacuation strategies for vertical ship lift during initial fire: Integrated application of stairs and elevators
Shu CHEN1, Menghan SHANG1, Jianping WANG2()
1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Construction and Management in Hydropower Engineering, College of Hydraulic & Environmental Engineering, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
2. College of Economics & Management, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
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Abstract

Vertical ship lifts (VSLs) are widely used in navigation facilities worldwide because of their efficiency and low cost. Although several researchers have investigated fire evacuation strategies for reducing potential safety hazards in VSLs, an effective and integrated application of stairs and elevators when a fire occurs in a VSL is necessary. Several evacuation routes were analyzed according to VSL structure and evacuation times in this study. Objective function corresponding to the minimum vertical evacuation time and related simulation model was subsequently developed to obtain a cooperative evacuation plan considering different numbers of evacuees. The Three Gorges ship lift was used as an example, and simulation results indicate that number of evacuees and exit selection are the main influencing factors of the total evacuation time in the stair- and elevator-coordinated evacuation mode. Furthermore, the distance between people trapped in ship reception chamber and evacuation exits affects evacuees’ choice of exits. The proposed model can provide a theoretical reference for evacuation research during initial fire events in VSLs.

Keywords vertical ship lift      initial fire      fire evacuation      numerical simulation      stair      elevator     
Corresponding Author(s): Jianping WANG   
Just Accepted Date: 30 June 2020   Online First Date: 06 August 2020    Issue Date: 15 January 2021
 Cite this article:   
Shu CHEN,Menghan SHANG,Jianping WANG. Evacuation strategies for vertical ship lift during initial fire: Integrated application of stairs and elevators[J]. Front. Eng, 2021, 8(1): 135-147.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/10.1007/s42524-020-0125-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/Y2021/V8/I1/135
Fig.1  Structure of the ship lift.
Fig.2  Evacuation routes (color blue represents the evacuation trajectory of people on staircases and elevators).
Fig.3  Short distance travel.
Fig.4  Long distance travel.
Fig.5  Simulation process flow.
Fig.6  Population density.
Fig.7  Staircase evacuation time (the number of evacuee is set as (a) 225, (b) 125 and (c) 50).
Fig.8  Elevator evacuation time (the number of evacuee is set as (a) 225, (b) 125 and (c) 50).
Fig.9  Vertical evacuation time.
Fig.10  Relationship among the number of evacuees, vertical evacuation time and ratio α (the number of evacuee is set as (a) 225, (b) 125 and (c) 50).
Fig.11  Relationship among the parking elevation, evacuation time and ratio b (the number of evacuee is set as (a) 225, (b) 125 and (c) 50).
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