Stability of a Soft Plate in Channel Flow : Aerodynamic Aspects of Palatal Flutter

The present paper gives a computational method for the flutter analysis of a soft plate placed in two-dimensional subsonic channel flow, remarking the palatal flutter in snoring. The computations were carried out first for the prelimanary case of a hard plate oscillating in windtunnel and then for the case of a soft plate oscillating with standing- or travelling-wave mode, simulating the palatal oscillation. The results obtained for a hard plate are in good agreement with those for the windtunnel wall effects, showing the validity of the present method. The results for a soft plate show that the palatal flutter can be caused by the oscillation of travelling-wave mode, and that the flutter is slightly promoted by the channel walls but slightly suppressed by the hard plate attached fore the soft plate. The effect of mechanical damping is also discussed.