Review Article

Overview on state-of-the-art numerical modeling of the phonation process

¹ Division of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Waldstrasse 1, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
² Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
³ Aeroacoustics and Vibroacoustics Group, Institute of Fundamentals and Theory in Electrical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 18, 8010 Graz, Austria
⁴ Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic
⁵ Technical University of Liberec, 461 17 Liberec 1, Czech Republic

^* Corresponding author: michael.doellinger@uk-erlangen.de

Received: 16 January 2023
Accepted: 7 April 2023

Abstract

Numerical modeling of the human phonatory process has become more and more in focus during the last two decades. The increase in computational power and the use of high-performance computation (HPC) yielded more complex models being closer to the actual fluid-structure-acoustic interaction (FSAI) within the human phonatory process. However, several different simulation approaches with varying mathematical complexity and focus on certain parts of the phonatory process exist. Currently, models are suggested based on ordinary differential equations (reduced order models) but also on partial differential equations based on continuum mechanics as e.g. the Navier–Stokes equations for the flow discretized by Finite-Volume or Finite-Element-Methods. This review will illuminate current trends and recent progress within the area. In summary, the ultimate simulation model satisfying all physiological needs and scientific opinions still has to be developed.