Self-entrainment of the right and left vocal fold oscillators

This article presents an analysis of entrained oscillations of the right and left vocal folds in the presence of asymmetries. A simple one-mass model is proposed for each vocal fold. A stiffness asymmetry and open glottis oscillations are considered first, and regions of oscillation are determined by a stability analysis and an averaging technique. The results show that the subglottal threshold pressure for 1:1 entrainment increases with the asymmetry. Within that region, both folds oscillate with the same amplitude and with the lax fold delayed in time with regard to the tense fold. At large asymmetries, a region involving several different phase entrainments or toroidal regimes at constant threshold pressure appears. The effect of vocal fold collisions and asymmetry in the damping coefficients of the oscillators are explored next by means of numerical analyses. It is shown that the damping asymmetry expands the 1:1 entrainment region at low subglottal pressures across the whole asymmetry range. In the expanded region, the oscillator with the lowest natural frequency is dominant and the other oscillator has a large phase advance and small amplitude. The theoretical results are finally compared with data collected from a mechanical replica of the vocal folds.