A Multiphase Convection-Diffusion Model for the Simulation of Interacting Pedestrian Flows

The simulation of pedestrian flow has become an important tool in the fields of planning and operation of public spaces like airports or shopping malls. While evacuation situations have been deeply investigated in numerous publications, the interaction of distinct pedestrian flows still needs more consideration. In this paper, we develop a macroscopic model for the simulation of interacting, more precisely intersecting pedestrian flows by a multiphase convection-diffusion approach. The convection corresponds to a movement towards a strategic direction whereas the diffusion corresponds to a tactical movement that avoids jams. Different populations moving in different directions are represented by different phases. Numerical experiments demonstrate the qualitative behaviour of the simulation model.