China Safety Science Journal ›› 2025, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (6): 223-231.doi: 10.16265/j.cnki.issn1003-3033.2025.06.1098

• Emergency technology and management • Previous Articles     Next Articles

An optimization method of emergency evacuation signage layout considering pedestrian perceptual behavior

HE Weiming1,2,3(), LIU Shaobo1,2,3,**(), HE Jing4, BI Shuting1,2,3   

  1. 1 Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Center, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430063, China
    2 State Key Laboratory of Maritime Technology and Safety, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430063, China
    3 Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park, Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya Hainan 572000, China
    4 School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430070, China
  • Received:2025-02-20 Revised:2025-04-23 Online:2025-06-28 Published:2025-07-30
  • Contact: LIU Shaobo

Abstract:

In order to solve the problem of low guidance efficiency of emergency evacuation signs, a layout optimization method of emergency evacuation signs considering pedestrian perceptual behavior was proposed. Firstly, the recognizable range and probability distribution of the signs were investigated to establish a model of pedestrians' perceptual behavior towards the signs; secondly, a layout optimization model was constructed considering the number, location and orientation of the signs by combining it with the distribution of the guidance demand in the multi-exit space; finally, a case study of a cruise ship was used, where a genetic algorithm is applied to solve the problem. The evacuation efficiency, both before and after the optimization of the signage layout, was evaluated through microscopic crowd evacuation simulation, respectively. The results show that the average evacuation time under the optimized layout is 10.3% shorter than that under the unoptimized layout when the pedestrians are randomly distributed at the initial position; the average evacuation time is 4.2% shorter under the scenario simulating the actual evacuation process, and the number of pedestrians guided to different destinations is more balanced.

Key words: emergency evacuation signage, layout optimization, perceptual behavior, guidance demand, evacuation efficiency

CLC Number: