Effect of Exit Door Width on Flow Rate in Occupant-based Fire Evacuation Scenarios in Dormitories

Abstract

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Student dormitories are intensely used buildings that meet the resting, accommodation and living needs of students. It is necessary to ensure the safety of students and to eliminate possible risks in dormitories as intensive use areas. Fires pose a great risk in dormitories and may cause serious casualties and injuries. The reduction of casualties and injuries can be achieved by analyzing occupant behaviour during fires according to the building use scenarios. In this paper, a type of dormitory that provides two alternative exits is explored. The building use scenarios of the dormitory were investigated by making on-site observations. Students’ use of sleeping units, dining units and partial sleeping/dining units and fire exit routes were determined. Pathfinder computer program was used to analyze the fire evacuation performance. This program was defined in accordance with occupant behaviour and different fire evacuation times were suggested depending on the building use scenarios. At the end of the study, based on the evacuation times, the flow rate at the exit doors according to the location of the occupants was analyzed. In the fire escape routes, as the upper floors are reached from the lower floors, the occupant flow rate decreases at the exit doors and the flow rates continue to be stable as the number of occupants is saturated according to the door width. The decrease in the number of occupants in the dining unit decreases the flow rate at the exit doors. It is important that various assembly units in dormitories, such as the dining unit, are designed on floors that can directly provide evacuation to a safe area. The results obtained are suitable for all dormitories, residences, hotels and other similar buildings.

        Keywords: building use scenario, dormitory, evacuation, flow rate, exit widths