Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Feldmann, Sina
• Adrian, Juliane

Titel

Forward propagation of a push through a row of people

Ist Teil von

• Safety science, 2023-08, Vol.164, p.106173, Article 106173

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Security plays a crucial role when it comes to planning large events such as concerts, sporting tournaments, pilgrims, or demonstrations. Monitoring and controlling pedestrian dynamics can prevent dangerous situations from occurring. However, little is known about the specific factors that contribute to harmful situations. For example, the individual response of a person to external forces in dense crowds is not well studied. In order to address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a series of experiments to examine how a push propagates through a row of people and how it affects the participants. We recorded 2D head trajectories and 3D motion capturing data. To ensure that different trials can be compared to one another, we measured the force at the impact. We find that that the propagation distance as well as the propagation speed of the push are mainly functions of the strength of the push and in particular the latter depends on the initial arm posture of the pushed participants. Our results can contribute to a deeper understanding of the microscopic causes of macroscopic phenomena in large groups, and can be applied to inform models of pedestrian dynamics or validate them, ultimately improving crowd safety. •Pressure data of a push was linked to motion data of pedestrians.•Unlike a domino effect, pushes propagate further in the row with stronger impacts.•The propagation speed depends on the pushing strength and the initial arm posture.