Pedestrian flow through exit:Study focused on evacuation pattern

Experiments are conducted on the evacuation rate of pedestrians through exits with queued evacuation pattern and random evacuation pattern. The experimental results show that the flow rate of pedestrians is larger with the random evacuation pattern than with the queued evacuation pattern. Therefore, the exit width calculated based on the minimum evacuation clear width for every 100 persons, which is on the assumption that the pedestrians pass through the exit in one queue or several queues, is conservative. The number of people crossing the exit simultaneously is greater in the random evacuation experiments than in the queued evacuation experiments, and the time interval between the front row and rear row of people is shortened in large-exit conditions when pedestrians evacuate randomly. The difference between the flow rate with a queued evacuation pattern and the flow rate with a random evacuation pattern is related to the surplus width of the exit, which is greater than the total width of all accommodated people streams. Two dimensionless quantities are defined to explore this relationship. It is found that the difference in flow rate between the two evacuation patterns is stable at a low level when the surplus width of the exit is no more than 45% of the width of a single pedestrian stream. There is a great difference between the flow rate with the queued evacuation pattern and the flow rate with the random evacuation pattern in a scenario with a larger surplus width of the exit. Meanwhile, the pedestrians crowd extraordinarily at the exit in these conditions as well, since the number of pedestrians who want to evacuate through exit simultaneously greatly exceeds the accommodated level. Therefore, the surplus width of exit should be limited especially in the narrow exit condition, and the relationship between the two dimensionless quantities mentioned above could provide the basis to some extent.

Microstructural development of vanadium-nickel crystalline alloy membranes

V85Ni15(at%)alloy was proposed as a promising candidate for hydrogen separation membranes.To date,investigations of V85Ni15 alloy have concentrated on hydrogen permeation characteristics,and little work has been done on the microstructural development.In the present study,various fabrication and heat-treatment techniques were used to develop different microstructures which would then be tailored to achieve a desired candidate for acceptable mechanical stability while maintaining high hydrogen permeability.The arc-melted(AM)V85Ni15 alloy are supersaturated solid solution with dendritic segregation of Ni-solute atoms.Cold rolling(CR)followed by annealing at 1050℃and 850℃can produce a two-phase(V+σ)microstructure and a three-phase(V+σ+NiV3)microstructure,respectively.Very fine two-phase microstructure obtained at 1050℃involves a simultaneous reaction of second-phase precipitation and V-matrix recrystallization.Sigma phase is formed via primary precipitation,while NiV3 phase is formed by peritectoidal reaction.When AMCR samples were homogenized at1250℃for 2 h and sequential heat-treated at 850℃or900℃for 2 h,precipitation-strengthening microstructure is obtained:large grain structure of V-matrix with uniform distribution of second-phase particles produced by recrystallization and grain growth followed by precipitation process.