Aeroacoustic source characterization in a physical model of phonation

• Main Authors: Campo, E.T (Author), Krane, M.H (Author), McPhail, M.J (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Acoustical Society of America 2019
• Subjects: acoustics; Acoustics; adult; airway; article; assertiveness; biological model; devices; Drag; Fundamental frequencies; glottis; Good correlations; human; Humans; Measurements of; Models, Biological; mouth; phonation; Phonation; physical model; physiology; Second harmonics; sound; Sound production; Source characterization; Speech; Standard deviation; Surrogate measures; trachea; Trachea; transducer; Transducers; vocal cord; Vocal Cords; voice; Voice
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 This paper presents measurements conducted in a physical model of the adult human airway. The goals of this work are to (1) benchmark the physical model to excised larynx models in the literature and (2) empirically demonstrate the relationship between vocal fold drag and sound production. Results from the airway model are first benchmarked to published time-averaged behavior of excised larynx models. The airway model in this work exhibited higher glottal volume flow, lower glottal resistance, and less fundamental frequency variation than excised larynx models. Next, concurrent measurements of source behavior and radiated sound were compared. Unsteady transglottal pressure (a surrogate measure for vocal fold drag) and radiated sound, measured at the mouth, showed good correlation. In particular, the standard deviation and the ratio of the power of the first and second harmonics of the transglottal and mouth pressures were strongly correlated. This empirical result supports the assertion that vocal fold drag is the principal source of sound in phonation. © 2019 Acoustical Society of America.