Articles techniques et présentations

The two wooden cabinets of Jan van Mekeren that are located in Amerongen Castle show comparable wood damage; in particular large cracks in the cabinet doors are clearly noticeable. It is assumed that these cracks were caused by bad indoor climate conditions in the castle.

Combined computational modelling of the indoor climate conditions in the castle and the hygroscopic and mechanical behaviour of the wood in the cabinet doors has been carried out in COMSOL to predict the damage potential of indoor climate variations to the doors. With this model, the historic indoor climate conditions that may have caused mechanical degradation can be analysed and the damage potential of future climate conditions can be assessed.