Through model simulations, we investigated the cochlear traveling waves formed by outer hair cell (OHC) motility. Two sets of governing equations, one representing the solid domain of the organ of Corti complex (OCC) and the other representing the fluid domain, were solved simultaneously in the time domain. The OHCs incorporated electro-mechanical motility driven by prestin molecules. The combined fluid-solid interaction model was verified by simulating passive traveling waves along the cochlear coil. When stimulated with an electrical impulse, the OCC formed traveling waves propagating toward the apex. Without the Y-shaped structures in the OCC formed by the OHCs and the Deiter's cell processes, the active OHCs form dispersive waves rather than traveling waves upon electrical stimulation.
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