An Innovative Investigation of the Thermal Environment inside the Reconstructed Caldaria of Two Ancient Roman Baths Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Date
2013-01-18
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Abstract
The overarching premise of this dissertation is to use engineering principles and classical archaeological data to create knowledge that benefits both disciplines: transdisciplinary research. Specifically, this project uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze the thermal environment inside one room of two Roman bath buildings. By doing so, this research reveals the temperature distribution and velocity profiles inside the room of interest. One of the first preliminary necessities was an accurate measure of the heat input into the room from the radiant heating system. The best way to do this was experimentally. The results showed no dependence on the plenum temperature. The measured convective heat transfer coefficient was between 6.2 and 7.6W/m2.oC, with an average of 7.0W/m2.oC. The CFD analyses begin with a 2-D assessment of the relationship between the windows and doorways of the rooms of interest and their heat retention. The former reinforced the standpoint that the windows had to have glazing to maintain an adequate bathing temperature. The latter suggested that the reason why many doorways were narrow was thermal. The first of two 3-D case studies is a replica small bath for the television series NOVA. The results illustrated that the vault traps the hottest air leaving the region inhabited by the patrons cooler than the average of 35̊C. The data also showed that the open doorway heavily influenced the environment of the room. This influence seemed misleading and the best way to test this was to add the adjoining room and observe the flow patterns. The results of this revealed that the exchange between rooms decreased and the temperature in the room of interest rose to 44̊C. The addition of a cloth door increased the temperature to 49̊C. The second case study—the Baths of Caracalla in Rome—is significantly larger making the simulation of the entire volume impossible. The results showed a greater transitory phase which is due to the self-contained nature of the model. The data also demonstrated a minimal response to the change of season but a dramatic shift with a change to the representation of the sun.
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Keywords
History--Ancient, History--Ancient
Citation
Oetelaar, T. (2013). An Innovative Investigation of the Thermal Environment inside the Reconstructed Caldaria of Two Ancient Roman Baths Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/24900