Finite element simulation of glottal flow and pressure.

Computational studies of laryngeal aerodynamics should help clarify the relationships among configuration, air flow, surface pressure, and vocal fold movement within the larynx, and the acoustic consequences of the output glottal air flow. The penalty finite element method [S. W. Kim, Comput. Fluids 16(4), 429-444 (1988a); NASA CR-179357 (1988b); S. W. Kim and R. A. Decker, Int. J. Num. Meth. Fluids 9, 43-57 (1989)] was adopted to simulate steady air flow and air pressure through the larynx. A total of 133 conditions of different glottal configurations and inflow rates were studied. The computational results were compared to empirical data from earlier experiments. Two cases are reported (1) constant glottal divergence (42 degrees) but variable diameter and (2) constant glottal diameter (0.04 cm) but variable glottal angle. For case (1), the average discrepancy for translaryngeal pressure drop between the computational results and empirical data was 6.8% for pressures between 3 and 15 cm H2O. Flow separation occurred just downstream of the minimal glottal diameter. For case (2), the computational results for translaryngeal pressure drop differed from the empirically derived Scherer-Guo (S-G) equation predictions by an average of 8.9% for pressure between 3 and 13 cm H2O. Pressure recovery in the glottis suggested that the optimal glottal diffuser angle was near 10 degrees. Results suggest that the computational method should be sufficient to study glottal aerodynamics (assuming quasisteady flow).