Prolonged clogs in bottleneck simulations for pedestrian dynamics

This article studies clogging phenomena using a velocity-based model for pedestrian dynamics. First, a method to identify prolonged clogs in simulations was introduced. Then bottleneck simulations were implemented with different initial and boundary conditions. The number of prolonged clogs were analyzed to investigate the decisive factors causing this phenomenon. Moreover, the time lapse between two consecutive agents passing the exit, and the trajectories of agents were analyzed. The influence of three type of factors was studied: parameters of the spatial boundaries, algorithmic factors related to implementation of the model, and the movement model. Parameters of the spatial boundaries include the width and position of the bottleneck exit. Algorithmic factors are the update methods and the size of the time step. Model parameters cover several parameters describing the level of motivation, the strength and range of impact among agents, and the shape of agents. The results show that the occurrence of prolonged clogs is closely linked to parameters of the spatial boundaries and the movement model but has virtually no correlation with algorithmic factors. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigates clogging phenomena using a velocity-based model for pedestrian dynamics. It identifies prolonged clogs in bottleneck simulations and analyzes the factors causing this phenomenon. Results show that prolonged clogs are closely linked to parameters of spatial boundaries and movement model, rather than algorithmic factors.