Computational Simulations of Vocal Fold Vibration: Bernoulli Versus Navier–Stokes

The use of the mechanical energy (ME) equation for fluid flow, an extension of the Bernoulli equation, to predict the aerodynamic loading on a two-dimensional finite element vocal fold model is examined. Three steady, one-dimensional ME flow models, incorporating different methods of flow separation point prediction, were compared. For two models, determination of the flow separation point was based on fixed ratios of the glottal area at separation to the minimum glottal area; for the third model, the separation point determination was based on fluid mechanics boundary layer theory. Results of flow rate, separation point, and intraglottal pressure distribution were compared with those of an unsteady, two-dimensional, finite element Navier-Stokes model. Cases were considered with a rigid glottal profile as well as with a vibrating vocal fold. For small glottal widths, the three ME flow models yielded good predictions of flow rate and intraglottal pressure distribution, but poor predictions of separation location. For larger orifice widths, the ME models were poor predictors of flow rate and intraglottal pressure, but they satisfactorily predicted separation location. For the vibrating vocal fold case, all models resulted in similar predictions of mean intraglottal pressure, maximum orifice area, and vibration frequency, but vastly different predictions of separation location and maximum flow rate.     

Flow separation in a computational oscillating vocal fold model

A finite-volume computational model that solves the time-dependent glottal airflow within a forced-oscillation model of the glottis was employed to study glottal flow separation. Tracheal input velocity was independently controlled with a sinusoidally varying parabolic velocity profile. Control parameters included flow rate (Reynolds number), oscillation frequency and amplitude of the vocal folds, and the phase difference between the superior and inferior glottal margins. Results for static divergent glottal shapes suggest that velocity increase caused glottal separation to move downstream, but reduction in velocity increase and velocity decrease moved the separation upstream. At the fixed frequency, an increase of amplitude of the glottal walls moved the separation further downstream during glottal closing. Increase of Reynolds number caused the flow separation to move upstream in the glottis. The flow separation cross-sectional ratio ranged from approximately 1.1 to 1.9 (average of 1.47) for the divergent shapes. Results suggest that there may be a strong interaction of rate of change of airflow, inertia, and wall movement. Flow separation appeared to be "delayed" during the vibratory cycle, leading to movement of the separation point upstream of the glottal end only after a significant divergent angle was reached, and to persist upstream into the convergent phase of the cycle.     

ON THE GENERALISED FANT EQUATION

An analysis is made of the fluid-structure interactions involved in the production of voiced speech. It is usual to avoid time consuming numerical simulations of the aeroacoustics of the vocal tract and glottis by the introduction of Fant's ‘reduced complexity’ equation for the glottis volume velocity Q [G. Fant, Acoustic Theory of Speech Production, Mouton, The Hague 1960]. A systematic derivation is given of Fant's equation based on the nominally exact equations of aerodynamic sound. This can be done with a degree of approximation that depends only on the accuracy with which the time-varying flow geometry and surface-acoustic boundary conditions can be specified, and replaces Fant's original ‘lumped element’ heuristic approach. The method determines all of the effective ‘source terms’ governing Q. It is illustrated by consideration of a simplified model of the vocal system involving a self-sustaining single-mass model of the vocal folds, that uses free streamline theory to account for surface friction and flow separation within the glottis. Identification is made of a new source term associated with the unsteady vocal fold drag produced by their oscillatory motion transverse to the mean flow.     

Voice production model integrating boundary-layer analysis of glottal flow and source-filter coupling

A voice production model is created in this work by considering essential aerodynamic and acoustic phenomena in human voice production. A precise flow analysis is performed based on a boundary-layer approximation and the viscous-inviscid interaction between the boundary layer and the core flow. This flow analysis can supply information on the separation point of the glottal flow and the thickness of the boundary layer, both of which strongly depend on the glottal configuration and yield an effective prediction of the flow behavior. When the flow analysis is combined with the modified two-mass model of the vocal fold [Pelorson et al. (1994). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96, 3416-3431], the resulting acoustic wave travels through the vocal tract and a pressure change develops in the vicinity of the glottis. This change can affect the glottal flow and the motion of the vocal folds, causing source-filter coupling. The property of the acoustic feedback is explicitly expressed in the frequency domain by using an acoustic tube model, allowing a clear interpretation of the coupling. Numerical experiments show that the vocal-tract input impedance and frequency responses representing the source-filter coupling have dominant peaks corresponding to the fourth and fifth formants. Results of time-domain simulations also suggest the importance of these high-frequency peaks in voice production.     

Unsteady behavior of flow in a scaled-up vocal folds model

Measurements of the fluid flow through a scaled-up model of the human glottis are presented to determine whether glottal flow may be approximated as unsteady. Time- and space-resolved velocity vector fields from digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) measurements of the flow through the gap between two moving, rigid walls are presented in four cases, over a range of Strouhal numbers: 0.010, 0.018, 0.035, 0.040, corresponding to life-scale f(0) of 30, 58, 109, and 126 Hz, respectively, at a Reynolds number of 8000. It is observed that (1) glottal flow onset is delayed after glottal opening and (2) glottal flow shutoff occurs prior to closure. A comparison between flow through a fully open, nonmoving glottis and that through the moving vocal folds shows a marked difference in spatial structure of the glottal jet. The following features of the flow are seen to exhibit strong dependence on cycle frequency: (a) glottal exit plane velocity, (b) volume flow, (c) vortex shedding rates, and (d) vortex amplitude. Vortex shedding appears to be a factor both in controlling flow resistance and in cycle-to-cycle volume flow variations. All these observations strongly suggest that glottal flow is inherently unsteady.     

Theoretical assessment of unsteady aerodynamic effects in phonation

This paper ranks the importance of unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms in glottal flow. Particular emphasis is given to separation point motion, acceleration of glottal airflow by vocal fold motion, and viscous blockage. How nondimensional parameters such as the Reynolds, Strouhal, and Womersley numbers help in this ranking is also addressed. An equation of motion is derived which includes terms explicitly describing the effects of interest, assuming (1) a symmetrical glottis, (2) zero pressure recovery downstream of the vocal folds, and (3) a quasisteady glottal jet. Estimating the order of magnitude of the terms in this equation, it is shown that the flow is characterized by two temporal regimes: (1) a flow initiation/shutoff regime where local unsteady acceleration and wall motion dominate, and (2) a "quasisteady" regime where the flow is dominated by convective acceleration. In the latter case, separation point motion and viscous blockage are shown to be out of phase with motion of the vocal folds, thereby impacting the shape of the glottal volume flow waveform. The analysis suggests that glottal flow may be considered quasisteady only insofar as traditional assumptions concerning glottal jet behavior can be confirmed.     

Comparing turbulence models for flow through a rigid glottal model

Flow through a rigid model of the human vocal tract featuring a divergent glottis was numerically modeled using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes approach. A number of different turbulence models, available in a widely used commercial computational fluid dynamics code, were tested to determine their ability to capture various flow features recently observed in laboratory experiments and large eddy simulation studies. The study reveals that results from unsteady simulations employing the k-omega shear stress transport model were in much better agreement with previous measurements and predictions with regard to the ability to predict glottal jet skewing due to the Coanda effect and the intraglottal pressure distribution or related skin friction coefficient, than either steady or unsteady simulations using the Spalart-Allmaras model or any other two-equation turbulence model investigated in this study.     

Numerical Study of Unsteady MHD Flow and Entropy Generation in a Rotating Permeable Channel with Slip and Hall Effects

This article investigates an unbiased analysis for the unsteady two-dimensional laminar flow of an incompressible, electrically and thermally conducting fluid across the space separated by two infinite rotating permeable walls.The influence of entropy generation, Hall and slip effects are considered within the flow analysis. The problem is modeled based on valid physical arguments and the unsteady system of dimensionless PDEs (partial differential equations) are solved with the help of Finite Difference Scheme. In the presence of pertinent parameters, the precise movement of the flow in terms of velocity, temperature, entropy generation rate, and Bejan numbers are presented graphically, which are parabolic in nature. Streamline profiles are also presented, which exemplify the accurate movement of the flow. The current study is one of the infrequent contributions to the existing literature as previous studies have not attempted to solve the system of high order non-linear PDEs for the unsteady flow with entropy generation and Hall effects in a permeable rotating channel. It is expected that the current analysis would provide a platform for solving the system of nonlinear PDEs of the other unexplored models that are associated to the two-dimensional unsteady flow in a rotating channel.     

On the role of glottis-interior sources in the production of voiced sound

The voice source is dominated by aeroacoustic sources downstream of the glottis. In this paper an investigation is made of the contribution to voiced speech of secondary sources within the glottis. The acoustic waveform is ultimately determined by the volume velocity of air at the glottis, which is controlled by vocal fold vibration, pressure forcing from the lungs, and unsteady backreactions from the sound and from the supraglottal air jet. The theory of aerodynamic sound is applied to study the influence on the fine details of the acoustic waveform of "potential flow" added-mass-type glottal sources, glottis friction, and vorticity either in the glottis-wall boundary layer or in the portion of the free jet shear layer within the glottis. These sources govern predominantly the high frequency content of the sound when the glottis is near closure. A detailed analysis performed for a canonical, cylindrical glottis of rectangular cross section indicates that glottis-interior boundary/shear layer vortex sources and the surface frictional source are of comparable importance; the influence of the potential flow source is about an order of magnitude smaller.     

TVC effects on flow separation on slender cylinders

Occurrence of flow separation within the boundary-layer is primarily attributed to the growth of adverse pres-sure gradient within the boundary-layer. Such a separating boundary-layer can, however, be made to stay attached to the bounding surface due to various remedies where the surface transverse curvature (TVC) is one of them while the body contour is another. Assistive role of the surface transverse curvature is utilized in delaying the boundary-layer separation in a retarded flow past the slender bodies by assuming different body configurations. Axially-symmetric bodies of revolution of different shapes having a varying cross section in x, following the power-law form, have been considered in this study. It is shown that the point of separation is strongly dependent upon the surface curvature parameter k and the body-shape index n, which in fact control the flow separation. This fact ensures that an increase in the surface curvature parameter k and the body-shape index n leads to an increase in the wall shear stress which consequently delays the flow separation. Significant delay in flow separation is observed on cylinders having sufficiently large transverse curvature. Percent increase in the separation length corresponding to various values of the curvature parameter and the body-shape index has been calculated and reported in the form of Tables.     

Theoretical simulation and experimental validation of inverse quasi-one-dimensional steady and unsteady glottal flow models

In physical modeling of phonation, the pressure drop along the glottal constriction is classically assessed with the glottal geometry and the subglottal pressure as known input parameters. Application of physical modeling to study phonation abnormalities and pathologies requires input parameters related to in vivo measurable quantities commonly corresponding to the physical model output parameters. Therefore, the current research presents the inversion of some popular simplified flow models in order to estimate the subglottal pressure, the glottal constriction area, or the separation coefficient inherent to the simplified flow modeling for steady and unsteady flow conditions. The inverse models are firstly validated against direct simulations and secondly against in vitro measurements performed for different configurations of rigid vocal fold replicas mounted in a suitable experimental setup. The influence of the pressure corrections related to viscosity and flow unsteadiness on the flow modeling is quantified. The inversion of one-dimensional glottal flow models including the major viscous effects can predict the main flow quantities with respect to the in vitro measurements. However, the inverse model accuracy is strongly dependent on the pertinence of the direct flow modeling. The choice of the separation coefficient is preponderant to obtain pressure predictions relevant to the experimental data.     

Stability of the laminar flow on a body of revolution at incidence

An asymmetric incompressible gas flow past a body of revolution was studied in a subsonic wind tunnel. Characteristics of the velocity field at the stern of the experimental model, where a laminar boundary-layer separation and concomitant destabilization of the flow occur under axisymmetric conditions, were determined. Declination of the axis of symmetry of the body within several angular degrees results in a radical change of the time-average velocity field, the amplitude distribution of growing hydrodynamic disturbances, and their spectral distribution.     

三维边界层内诱导横流失稳模态的感受性机理

边界层感受性问题是层流向湍流转捩的初始阶段,在转捩过程中起关键性作用,尤其是三维边界层流动.因此,研究三维边界层感受性问题对进一步理解层流向湍流转捩机理以及湍流成因具有重要的理论意义.采用数值方法研究自由来流湍流与三维壁面局部粗糙相互作用下三维边界层的感受性问题,确定是否能在三维边界层内寻找一种新的横流失稳模态;确定在何种条件下三维边界层内能诱导出定常、非定常的横流失稳模态;探索自由来流湍流的强度、展向波数和法向波数以及三维壁面局部粗糙的大小和结构类型等因素在自由来流湍流与三维壁面局部粗糙作用下三维边界层内被激发出的感受性过程中有何影响,并确定何种横流失稳模态在三维边界层感受性过程中占据何种地位.对自由来流湍流与三维壁面局部粗糙作用激发三维边界层内感受性问题的深入研究,将有助于完善流动稳定性与湍流理论,为层流向湍流转捩过程的预测与控制提供合理的理论依据.     

Flap-edge aeroacoustic measurements and predictions

An aeroacoustic model test has been conducted to investigate the mechanisms of sound generation on high-lift wing configurations. This paper presents an analysis of flap side-edge noise, which is often the most dominant source. A model of a main element wing section with a half-span flap was tested at low speeds of up to a Mach number of 0.17, corresponding to a wing chord Reynolds number of approximately 1.7 million. Results are presented for flat (or blunt), flanged, and round flap-edge geometries, with and without boundary-layer tripping, deployed at both moderate and high flap angles. The acoustic database is obtained from a small aperture directional array (SADA) of microphones, which was constructed to electronically steer to different regions of the model and to obtain farfield noise spectra and directivity from these regions. The basic flap-edge aerodynamics is established by static surface pressure data, as well as by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations and simplified edge flow analyses. Distributions of unsteady pressure sensors over the flap allow the noise source regions to be defined and quantified via cross-spectral diagnostics using the SADA output. It is found that shear layer instability and related pressure scatter is the primary noise mechanism. For the flat edge flap, two noise prediction methods based on unsteady-surface-pressure measurements are evaluated and compared to measured noise. One is a new causality spectral approach developed here. The other is a new application of an edge-noise scatter prediction method. The good comparisons for both approaches suggest that the prediction models capture much of the physics. Areas of disagreement appear to reveal when the assumed edge noise mechanism does not fully define the noise production. For the different edge conditions, extensive spectra and directivity are presented. The complexity of the directivity results demonstrate the strong role of edge source geometry and frequency in the noise radiation. Significantly, for each edge configuration, the spectra for different flow speeds, flap angles, and surface roughness were successfully scaled by utilizing aerodynamic performance and boundary-layer scaling methods developed herein.     

Numerical Simulations of Unsteady Flows from Rarefied Transition to Continuum Using Gas-Kinetic Unified Algorithm

Numerical simulations of unsteady gas flows are studied on the basis of Gas-Kinetic Unified Algorithm (GKUA) from rarefied transition to continuum flow regimes. Several typical examples are adopted. An unsteady flow solver is developed by solving the Boltzmann model equations, including the Shakhov model and the Rykov model etc. The Rykov kinetic equation involving the effect of rotational energy can be transformed into two kinetic governing equations with inelastic and elastic collisions by integrating the molecular velocity distribution function with the weight factor on the energy of rotational motion. Then, the reduced velocity distribution functions are devised to further simplify the governing equation for one- and two-dimensional flows. The simultaneous equations are numerically solved by the discrete velocity ordinate (DVO) method in velocity space and the finite-difference schemes in physical space. The time-explicit operator-splitting scheme is constructed, and numerical stability conditions to ascertain the time step are discussed. As the application of the newly developed GKUA, several unsteady varying processes of one- and two-dimensional flows with different Knudsen number are simulated, and the unsteady transport phenomena and rarefied effects are revealed and analyzed. It is validated that the GKUA solver is competent for simulations of unsteady gas dynamics covering various flow regimes.     

Optimal glottal configuration for ease of phonation

Recent experimental studies have shown the existence of optimalvalues of the glottal width and convergence angle, at which the phonation threshold pressure is minimum. These results indicate the existence of an optimal glottal configuration for ease of phonation, not predicted by the previous theory. In this paper, the origin of the optimal configuration is investigated using a low dimensional mathematical model of the vocal fold. Two phenomena of glottal aerodynamics are examined: pressure losses due to air viscosity, and air flow separation from a divergent glottis. The optimal glottal configuration seems to be a consequence of the combined effect of both factors. The results agree with the experimental data, showing that the phonation threshold pressure is minimum when the vocal folds are slightly separated in a near rectangular glottis.     

Power dissipation and time-averaged pressure in oscillating flow through a sudden area change

Experiments on oscillating flow at the abrupt transition between a two-dimensional channel and essentially infinite space are presented. It is shown that phenomena associated with the transition are functions of three independent dimensionless parameters including the dimensionless radius rounding the edge of the end of the channel. The effect of each of these three parameters on the time-averaged pressure difference across the transition and the acoustic power dissipation is explored by holding two parameters fixed while varying the third. Evidence is presented that the losses due to oscillatory flow in this geometry are smaller than would be expected from commonly accepted values for steady flow in similar geometry.     

A conservative coupling algorithm between a compressible flow and a rigid body using an Embedded Boundary method

This paper deals with a new solid–fluid coupling algorithm between a rigid body and an unsteady compressible fluid flow, using an Embedded Boundary method. The coupling with a rigid body is a first step towards the coupling with a Discrete Element method. The flow is computed using a finite volume approach on a Cartesian grid. The expression of numerical fluxes does not affect the general coupling algorithm and we use a one-step high-order scheme proposed by Daru and Tenaud [V. Daru, C. Tenaud, J. Comput. Phys. (2004)]. The Embedded Boundary method is used to integrate the presence of a solid boundary in the fluid. The coupling algorithm is totally explicit and ensures exact mass conservation and a balance of momentum and energy between the fluid and the solid. It is shown that the scheme preserves uniform movement of both fluid and solid and introduces no numerical boundary roughness. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated on challenging one- and two-dimensional benchmarks.     

Flow visualization and pressure distributions in a model of the glottis with a symmetric and oblique divergent angle of 10 degrees

Modeling the human larynx can provide insights into the nature of the flow and pressures within the glottis. In this study, the intraglottal pressures and glottal jet flow were studied for a divergent glottis that was symmetric for one case and oblique for another. A Plexiglas model of the larynx (7.5 times life size) with interchangeable vocal folds was used. Each vocal fold had at least 11 pressure taps. The minimal glottal diameter was held constant at 0.04 cm. The glottis had an included divergent angle of 10 degrees. In one case the glottis was symmetric. In the other case, the glottis had an obliquity of 15 degrees. For each geometry, transglottal pressure drops of 3, 5, 10, and 15 cm H2O were used. Pressure distribution results, suggesting significantly different cross-channel pressures at glottal entry for the oblique case, replicate the data in another study by Scherer et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 1616-1630 (2001b)]. Flow visualization using a LASER sheet and seeded airflow indicated separated flow inside the glottis. Separation points did not appear to change with flow for the symmetric glottis, but for the oblique glottis moved upstream on the divergent glottal wall as flow rate increased. The outgoing glottal jet was skewed off-axis for both the symmetric and oblique cases. The laser sheet showed asymmetric circulating regions in the downstream region. The length of the laminar core of the glottal jet was less than approximately 0.6 cm, and decreased in length as flow increased. The results suggest that the glottal obliquity studied here creates significantly different driving forces on the two sides of the glottis (especially at the entrance to the glottis), and that the skewed glottal jet characteristics need to be taken into consideration for modeling and aeroacoustic purposes.