Numerical Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction in Human Phonation

Fluid-structure interaction in a simplified two-dimensional model of the larynx is considered to study human phonation. The flow is driven by an imposed pressure gradient across the glottis and interacts with the moving vocal folds in a self-sustained oscillation. The flow is computed by solving the 2D compressible Navier–Stokes equations using a high order finite difference method, which has been constructed to be strictly stable for linear hyperbolic and parabolic problems. The motion of the vocal folds is obtained by integrating the elastodynamic equations with a neo-Hookean constitutive model. Fluid and structure interact in a two-way coupling using a similar high order difference method. In each time step at the fluid-structure interface, the structure provides the fluid with new no-slip boundary conditions and new grid velocities, and the fluid provides the structure with new traction boundary conditions. The frequency obtained in our simulation is close to values observed in human phonation.