An experimental study on individual walking speed during ship evacuation with the combined effect of heeling and trim

Ship listing and motion is one significant factor that affects safety evacuation in passenger ship by reducing individual walking speed. A ship corridor simulator was developed to investigate the combined effect of heeling and trim on individual walking speed when freely and fast walking circumstances were considered. The value of the heeling angle α considered in the experiment is 0, ±5, ±10, ±15°, and the value of the trim angle β is 0, ±5, ±10, ±15, ±20°. It is found that average individual walking speed could be greatly attenuated, when the heeling and/or trim angles are considered. Compared to trim angles, heeling angles show less impact on average individual walking speed. When trim angle β > 0°, the gradient of average individual walking speed along with the increasing heeling or trim angle is larger compared to that when trim angle β < 0°. The maximum value for average individual speed could be achieved at the heeling angle α of 0°, with trim angle β ranging from −15° to −5°, since the average individual walking speed increases obviously under gravity effect during trim-down conditions (α = 0°) as the trim-down slope increases from 0° to 10°. The results will provide fundamental guidance to the practical ship evacuation.