2D/3D hybrid structural model of vocal folds

The spatial dimensionality of the vocal fold vibration is a common challenge in creating parsimonious models of vocal fold vibration. The ideal model is one that is accurate, with the lowest possible computational expense. Inclusion of full 3D flow and structural vibration typically requires massive amounts of computation, whereas reduction of either the flow or the structure to two dimensions eliminates certain aspects of physical reality, thus making the resulting models less accurate. Previous 2D models of the vocal fold structure have utilized a plane strain formulation, which is shown to be an erroneous modeling approach since it ignores influential stress components. We herein present a 2D/3D hybrid vocal fold model that preserves three-dimensional effects of length and longitudinal shear stresses, while taking advantage of a two-dimensional computational domain. The resulting model exhibits static and dynamic responses comparable to a 3D model, and retains the computational advantage of a two-dimensional model.