The cochlea is the most important part of the hearing system, due to the fact that it transforms sound guided through air, bone, and lymphatic fluid to vibrations of the cochlear partition which includes the organ of Corti with its sensory cells. These send nerve impulses to the brain leading to hearing perception. The work presents the wave propagation in rigid ducts filled with air or water including viscous-thermal boundary layer damping. In extension, a mechanical box model of the human cochlea represented by a rectangular duct limited by the tapered basilar membrane at one side is developed and evaluated numerically by the finite element method. The results match with rare experiments on human temporal bones without using the physically unfounded assumption of Rayleigh damping. A forecast on the concept of the traveling wave parametric amplification is given to potentially explain the high hearing sensitivity and otoacoustic emissions.
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October 2017
Research-Article
Acoustic Boundary Layer Attenuation in Ducts With Rigid and Elastic Walls Applied to Cochlear Mechanics
Frank Böhnke,
Frank Böhnke
Department of Otorhinolaryngology,
Technische Universität München
Ismaningerstr. 22,
München 81664, Germany
e-mail: frank.boehnke@tum.de
Technische Universität München
Ismaningerstr. 22,
München 81664, Germany
e-mail: frank.boehnke@tum.de
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Sebastian Semmelbauer
Sebastian Semmelbauer
Department of Otorhinolaryngology,
Ludwig Maximilian University Munich,
Marchioninistr. 15,
München 81377, Germany
e-mail: Sebastian.Semmelbauer@med.uni-muenchen.de
Ludwig Maximilian University Munich,
Marchioninistr. 15,
München 81377, Germany
e-mail: Sebastian.Semmelbauer@med.uni-muenchen.de
Search for other works by this author on:
Frank Böhnke
Department of Otorhinolaryngology,
Technische Universität München
Ismaningerstr. 22,
München 81664, Germany
e-mail: frank.boehnke@tum.de
Technische Universität München
Ismaningerstr. 22,
München 81664, Germany
e-mail: frank.boehnke@tum.de
Sebastian Semmelbauer
Department of Otorhinolaryngology,
Ludwig Maximilian University Munich,
Marchioninistr. 15,
München 81377, Germany
e-mail: Sebastian.Semmelbauer@med.uni-muenchen.de
Ludwig Maximilian University Munich,
Marchioninistr. 15,
München 81377, Germany
e-mail: Sebastian.Semmelbauer@med.uni-muenchen.de
Contributed by the Fluids Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING. Manuscript received October 5, 2016; final manuscript received April 21, 2017; published online July 10, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Satoshi Watanabe.
J. Fluids Eng. Oct 2017, 139(10): 101202 (6 pages)
Published Online: July 10, 2017
Article history
Received:
October 5, 2016
Revised:
April 21, 2017
Citation
Böhnke, F., and Semmelbauer, S. (July 10, 2017). "Acoustic Boundary Layer Attenuation in Ducts With Rigid and Elastic Walls Applied to Cochlear Mechanics." ASME. J. Fluids Eng. October 2017; 139(10): 101202. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036674
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