14 research outputs found
Enhanced empirical data for the fundamental diagram and the flow through bottlenecks
In recent years, several approaches for modelling pedestrian dynamics have
been proposed and applied e.g. for design of egress routes. However, so far not
much attention has been paid to their 'quantitative' validation. This
unsatisfactory situation belongs amongst others on the uncertain and
contradictory experimental data base. The fundamental diagram, i.e. the
density-dependence of the flow or velocity, is probably the most important
relation as it connects the basic parameter to describe the dynamic of crowds.
But specifications in different handbooks as well as experimental measurements
differ considerably. The same is true for the bottleneck flow. After a
comprehensive review of the experimental data base we give an survey of a
research project, including experiments with up to 250 persons performed under
well controlled laboratory conditions. The trajectories of each person are
measured in high precision to analyze the fundamental diagram and the flow
through bottlenecks. The trajectories allow to study how the way of measurement
influences the resulting relations. Surprisingly we found large deviation
amongst the methods. These may be responsible for the deviation in the
literature mentioned above. The results are of particular importance for the
comparison of experimental data gained in different contexts and for the
validation of models.Comment: A contribution to: Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics 2008 (Springer)
12 pages, 7 figure