Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Influence of Body Heat Loss on Temperature and Velocity Fields in a Whole-Body Cryotherapy Chamber

Version 1 : Received: 16 May 2023 / Approved: 17 May 2023 / Online: 17 May 2023 (12:39:36 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Elfahem, R.; Bouchet, B.; Abbes, B.; Polidori, G.; Beaumont, F. Influence of Body Heat Loss on Temperature and Velocity Fields in a Whole-Body Cryotherapy Chamber. Fluids 2023, 8, 252. Elfahem, R.; Bouchet, B.; Abbes, B.; Polidori, G.; Beaumont, F. Influence of Body Heat Loss on Temperature and Velocity Fields in a Whole-Body Cryotherapy Chamber. Fluids 2023, 8, 252.

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of body heat loss on the thermal and aerodynamic conditions in a whole-body cryotherapy chamber. The underlying hypothesis is that the heat generated by the human body alters the thermal and aerodynamic environment inside the cabin. A numerical study was conducted to test this hypothesis to analyze the thermodynamic exchanges between the human body and the cabin during a 3-minute whole-body cryotherapy session. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was used to study the unsteady heat transfer between the human body and the interior of the cryotherapy cabin. A thermal boundary condition, based on a mathematical model developed from experimental data, was applied to simulate skin cooling kinetics over time. The post-processing of the 3D results, including temperature, velocity fields, and thermal flux maps at the body surface, provided insight into the thermo-convective mechanisms involved in a whole-body cryotherapy session. The study found that body heat loss significantly affects the temperature fields inside the cabin, leading to global modifications of the aeraulic and thermal conditions. These findings suggest that cryotherapy protocols may need to be adjusted or the cabin set temperature optimized to enhance the therapeutic benefits.

Keywords

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); Whole body cryotherapy (WBC); skin temperature; extreme cold; human body

Subject

Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.