Vortex dipolar structures in a rigid model of the larynx at flow onset

Abstract

Starting jet airflow is investigated in a channel with a pair of consecutive slitted constrictions approximating the true and false vocal folds in the human larynx. The flow is visualized using the Schlieren optical technique and simulated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations for an incompressible two-dimensional viscous flow. Laboratory and numerical experiments show the spontaneous formation of three different classes of vortex dipolar structures in several regions of the laryngeal profile under conditions that may be assimilated to those of voice onset.