A Study on the Effect of Exit Widths and Crowd Sizes in the Formation of Arch in Clogged Crowds

TL;DR

This study investigates how exit widths and crowd sizes influence the formation of arches in clogged crowds, using empirical data from microsimulations to inform walkway design for better crowd management.

Contribution

It provides a detailed empirical analysis of arch formation in crowds, linking crowd and exit parameters to the phenomenon's onset and size, with potential applications in walkway design.

Findings

Arch forms as a half ellipse perimeter.

Arch size correlates with ellipse axes.

Exit width and crowd size affect arch formation timing.

Abstract

The arching phenomenon is an emergent pattern formed by a $c$-sized crowd of intelligent, goal-oriented, autonomous, heterogeneous individuals moving towards a $w$-wide exit along a long $W$-wide corridor, where $W>w$. We collected empirical data from microsimulations to identify the combination effects of~$c$ and~$w$ to the time~$T$ of the onset of and the size~$S$ of the formation of the arch. The arch takes on the form of the perimeter of a half ellipse halved along the minor axis. We measured the~$S$ with respect to the lengths of the major~$M$ and minor~$m$ axes of the ellipse, respectively. The mathematical description of the formation of this phenomenon will be an important information in the design of walkways to control and easily direct the flow of large crowds, especially during panic egress conditions.