Shapes of ovens

[Geezer]

Hi all.
Due to position and size of my slab, im thinking of doing an elliptical shape oven. 2 possible strategies are a semi ellipse with a front buttress wall and external flue or an ellipse with a vertical slice making up the flat front wall, also with an external flue.
pros and cons a d which would be the better choice for air flow and cooking?
cheers.

[david s]

When you say elipse do you mean the side view or plan view? Maybe add a drawing of your proposed design. Departure from a hemisphere introduces structural weakness and if you intend building a brick oven makes constructing an elliptical form extremely difficult.

[Geezer]

Some additional info I the form of pictures

[Geezer]

Top picture is the front facade, with a buttress wall stopping the dome pusing the wall over, although there is also an external chimney flue 230mm out from front wall.
then there is a plan view on the left and a side view down the middle.
If this is doable please let me know.
cheers

[david s]

Ok, so your plan is elliptical for both plan and side views, with door height 63% of internal height. One problem could be that the long axis being sideways may make access to the sides more difficult. Perhaps consider having an elliptical oven mouth which will widen its mouth as well as reflecting the oven's elliptical form (see attached sketch for explanation). The other problem is that your oven brick form will be quite difficult to construct because of the many variables of angles, making an IT or templates continually variable. It is no accident that the Ancient Romans used the semicircle so widely, because of its ease of construction, rather tan utilising catenary or pointed arches which have benefits of increased stability.