A setup to study aero-acoustics for finite length ducts with time-varying shape

Elastic ducts with time-varying geometry are a recurrent issue in many engineering and physiological flow or sound production problems. In this study, we present and characterize a setup to study aero-acoustic phenomena through a deformable duct with time-varying geometry. The setup is designed in such a way that experimental control parameters relate directly to input parameters of a quasi-analytical geometrical model (Van Hirtum, 2015). We focus on low Mach number and moderate Reynolds number applications pertinent to physiological problems for which geometrical model input parameters can be related to well defined physiological quantities. Therefore, data gathered using the presented setup allow to study underlying physical phenomena and in addition favor comparison with high performance computational simulations as well as with analytical models for which a limited number of physiological meaningful input parameters are essential. Typical measurements illustrate the impact of geometrical control parameters on the acoustic pressure field in absence and in presence of flow, respectively.