Instantaneous orifice discharge coefficient of a physical, driven model of the human larynx

The quasisteady approximation is often made in the study of phonatory aerodynamics to facilitate the modeling of time-varying air flows through the self-oscillating vocal folds. The unsteady, pulsating flow is approximated by a sequence of steady flows through representative configurations of the vocal folds at rest. Previous studies have discussed the accuracy of this approximation for a range of orifice geometries, and flow conditions. The purpose of the present study was to further evaluate the quasisteady approximation experimentally using an improved procedure, from a direct comparison between the discharge coefficients of steady jets through fixed orifices and unsteady jets through modulated orifices of identical shape, area, and transglottal pressures at a given time. Life-scale convergent and divergent glottis-shaped rubber orifices were used in a rigid-walled tube and a low Mach number flow representative of human phonation. It was found that the quasisteady approximation is valid during 70% of the duty cycle, when the Reynolds number was above 3000, for a frequency of oscillations of 100 Hz. The steady form of Bernoulli's equation along a streamline, and Bernoulli's flow obstruction theory were found to be reasonably accurate for the unsteady flows. These models break down at low Reynolds numbers, near the beginning and the end of the duty cycle, due to viscous effects and to the influence of flow displaced by the motion of the walls.