Fds+evac Evacuation Model: Recent Developments

This paper lists the recent developments in the FDS+Evac evacuation model. FDS+Evac is an agent based emergency egress simulation model which is embedded in the fire simulation program FDS, thus, enabling simultaneous simulation of the fire and egress processes. The main new feature of the evacuation module is better treatment of different behavioral types of the evacuees using herding type algorithms. The four implemented types are conservative, active, follower, and herding agents and they differ in the way they select their target exits. Conservative agents prefer familiar routes, active agents actively observe their environment to find the fastest exit route, and herding and follower agents tend to follow others. The other developments of the evacuation model are a much easier and simpler user input, better way-finding towards visible exits, a counter flow model, and a better treatment of geometries like theatres and auditoriums, where the obstacles blocking visibility and movement differ. Some verification and validation cases are discussed in the paper and the basics of the new sub models are presented.