Ear canal cross-sectional acoustic modes
M. T. Friedrich, Richard D. Rabbitt · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1989
The cross-sectional acoustic modes for real ear canal geometries are determined using a WKB method in combination with a Rayleigh-Ritz procedure. This model, which applies the usual assumptions of linear acoustics, can be used to analyze the three-dimensional sound-pressure distribution in any long, slender, rigid-walled waveguide. The method is particularly well suited to obtain the higher modes, which are trapped near both ends of the ear canal. The analysis was confirmed by comparing computed results with the exact solutions for fundamental waveguides. Results were also obtained for geometries measured from real ear canals. [Work supported, in part, by the Whitaker Foundation.]