Vocal fold model development
Existing models for the pressure distribution along the walls of the vocal folds utilize Bernoulli's equation in the diverging vocal fold passage, and thus relate the pressure to the velocity in the section. Unfortunately, Bernoulli's equation is known to give erronious results in diffusers due to the strong influence of boundary layer growth and separation on the velocity field.
Furthermore, the nature of the vocal fold geometry leads to asymmetry in the flow field downstream of the minimal glottal area due to a Coanda type effect. Present models do not account for this asymmetry and the resulting asymmetric loading on the vocal folds. This project seeks to develop a semi-empirical model for the pressure distribution along the vocal fold walls by using boundary layer methods to predict the velocity profiles in the attached wall jet and thus estimate the pressure distribution.
The novel Boundary Layer Estimation of Asymmetric Pressure (BLEAP) method can be incorporated into two-mass vocal fold models to predict the self-oscillatory behavior.
This project is in collaboration with Dr. Byron Erath at Clarkson University.