In my master’s thesis, I first analysed fire safety legislation, presented the types and phases of evacuation, and described the psychological responses of people during a fire. Based on the literature, I identified key human characteristics and described the combustion process and the impact of combustion products on evacuation.
I presented the selected cultural facility, House Morostig, its purpose, construction, and the materials used, as well as the software tools used, PyroSim and Pathfinder. In PyroSim, I created a three-dimensional model of the building, which I then transferred to Pathfinder, where I defined walking surfaces, occupants, and their characteristics. I prepared three fire scenarios (smoke-free conditions, a pine wood fire, and a polyurethane foam) and carried out an extensive set of simulations with different numbers of occupants and different movement speeds. In addition, I analysed a scenario in which occupants predominantly choose a more familiar but longer evacuation route.
The results showed a linear correlation between the number of occupants and the time required for complete evacuation of the building, and a negative power-law relationship between movement speed and the time to complete evacuation. The effect of smoke on the course and duration of evacuation was detected but was largely negligible. When occupants of the exhibition space choose a familiar route instead of the shortest one, the total evacuation time increases by 17 %. A bottleneck was identified at the evacuation doors in the projection room leading to the external staircase.
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