Evacuation analysis of a passenger ship with an inclined passage considering the coupled effect of trim and heel

Passengers escaping from a sinking or inclined ship inevitably choose the transversal, upward, and downward routes and the coupled route where two statuses coexist. A passenger's travel speed varies greatly depending on individual characteristics, as well as the environmental factors, such as the inclination of the ship and the route status. In this study, the walking speed reduction coefficient that considers the coupled effect of trim and heel was applied according to the route status for realistic escape simulation. To calculate the walking speed reduction, the coupling coefficient is introduced to assign weighted values to the coupled route where two route statuses exist. To establish the necessity of reflecting upon the passenger's route status in the escape simulation, simulations were performed on tests 6, 10, and 11 of IMO MSC.1/Circ.1533 ANNEX 3. We believe more accurate ship evacuation simulation can be performed considering the coupled effect of trim and heel.