CFD Simulation of Air Flow Behaviour at Different Flow Rates in a Turkish Woodwind Instrument (Turkish Treble Recorder)

Abstract

In musical instruments, the geometric design and material features of the instrument are the most important factors that determine the sound characteristics of the instrument. Traditional replication and experiment-based handcrafting methods are predominant in the production of Turkish Folk Music wind instruments. The instrument manufacturing and standardization approaches, which include the relevant rules of physics and engineering practices, are limited purely to prototype studies for scientific research purposes. It is almost impossible to find studies on Turkish Folk Music wind instrument design and production involving computer aided design and engineering applications. In this study, an example Turkish woodwind instrument, the Turkish Treble Recorder (dilli kaval) is considered, and the air flow behaviour and acoustic (sound) power magnitudes that occur at different air flow rates are simulated in a computer environment using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation technique. In the study, numerical and visual outputs related to air behaviour at different air flow rates that may be used in the instrument manufacturing phases were obtained. Acoustic power level was also measured experimentally. Simulation outputs (the acoustic power level) were compared to experimental results in order to validate the simulation results. The comparison revealed that the highest relative difference was calculated as 13.32(%). This value indicated that the simulation results were reasonably consistent with the results of the experimental measurement. Additionally, this study was constructed as a case study that may provide reference for future research studies in this field.