Boundary Induced Phase Transition in Cellular Automata Models of Pedestrian Flow
Marek Bukácek and Pavel Hrabák
The concept of cellular automata for pedestrian flow modelling based on the Floor-Field model with principle of bonds and adaptive time-span is introduced. This model is used to simulate the open boundary problem of a walk-through room. The boundary induced phase transition from free flow to congestion is studied with respect to the principle of bonds, asynchronism of the update, and heterogeneity of the individuals representing pedestrians. It is shown that the principle of bonds influences the steady-state occupancy of the room, while the asynchronism has impact to the critical inflow rate.
Keywords: Floor-field, adaptive time-span, principle of bonds, phase transition, pedestrian flow, cellular automata model.