A hybrid aeroacoustic approach was developed for the efficient numerical computation of human phonation. In the first step, an incompressible flow simulation on a three-dimensional (3 D) computational grid, which is capable of resolving all relevant turbulent scales, is performed using STARCCM+ and finite volume method. In the second step, the acoustic source terms on the flow grid are computed and a conservative interpolation to the acoustic grid is performed. Finally, the perturbed convective wave equation is solved to obtain the acoustic field in 3 D with the finite element solver CFS++. Thereby, the conservative transformation of the acoustic sources from the flow grid to the acoustic grid is a key step to allow coarse acoustic grids without reducing accuracy. For this transformation, two different interpolation strategies are compared and grid convergence is assessed. Overall, 16 simulation setups are compared. The initial (267 000 degrees of freedom) and the optimized (21 265 degrees of freedom) simulation setup were validated by measurements of a synthetic larynx model. To conclude, the total computational time of the acoustic simulation is reduced by 95% compared to the initial simulation setup without a significant reduction of accuracy, being 7%, in the frequency range of interest.

This paper collects the state of the art and the tremendous progress that has been made in hybrid modeling of aeroacoustic sound. Hybrid modeling is defined such that flow and acoustics are modeled separate and connected by an aeroacoustic model. The contributions will be classified with respect to the aeroacoustic models being developed, covering Lighthill’s analogy, Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings, vortex sound, linearized Euler equations (LEE), and different perturbation equations modeling flow induced sound. Within each topic, specific applications, such as jet noise, aircraft noise, ground mobility, noise, fan noise and human phonation, are covered. We focus on the accomplishments and provide the authors’ contribution to aeroacoustic research. Eventually, a concise summary of the different methods and their capabilities is included.

For the clinical analysis of underlying mechanisms of voice disorders, we developed a numerical aeroacoustic larynx model, called simVoice, that mimics commonly observed functional laryngeal disorders as glottal insufficiency and vibrational left-right asymmetries. The model is a combination of the Finite Volume (FV) CFD solver Star-CCM+ and the Finite Element (FE) aeroacoustic solver CFS++. simVoice models turbulence using Large Eddy Simulations (LES) and the acoustic wave propagation with the perturbed convective wave equation (PCWE). Its geometry corresponds to a simplified larynx and a vocal tract model representing the vowel /a/. The oscillations of the vocal folds are externally driven. In total, 10 configurations with different degrees of functional-based disorders were simulated and analyzed. The energy transfer between the glottal airflow and the vocal folds decreases with an increasing glottal insufficiency and potentially reflects the higher effort during speech for patients being concerned. This loss of energy transfer may also have an essential influence on the quality of the sound signal as expressed by decreasing sound pressure level (SPL), Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP), and Vocal Efficiency (VE). Asymmetry in the vocal fold oscillations also reduces the quality of the sound signal. However, simVoice confirmed previous clinical and experimental observations that a high level of glottal insufficiency worsens the acoustic signal quality more than oscillatory left-right asymmetry. Both symptoms in combination will further reduce the quality of the sound signal. In summary, simVoice allows for detailed analysis of the origins of disordered voice production and hence fosters the further understanding of laryngeal physiology, including occurring dependencies. A current walltime of 10 h/cycle is, with a prospective increase in computing power, auspicious for a future clinical use of simVoice.

This contribution benchmarks the aeroacoustic workflow of the perturbed convective wave equation and the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings analogy in Farassat’s 1A version for a low-pressure axial fan. Thereby, we focus on the turbulence modeling of the flow simulation and mesh convergence concerning the complete aeroacoustic workflow. During the validation, good agreement has been found with the efficiency, the wall pressure sensor signals, and the mean velocity profiles in the duct. The analysis of the source term structures shows a strong correlation to the sound pressure spectrum. Finally, both acoustic sound propagation models are compared to the measured sound field data.