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The three-dimensional development of controlled transition in a flat-plate boundary layer is investigated by direct numerical simulation (DNS) using the complete Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical investigations are based on the so-called spatial model, thus allowing realistic simulations of spatially developing transition phenomena as observed in laboratory experiments. For solving the Navier-Stokes equations, an efficient and accurate numerical method was developed employing fourth-order finite differences in the downstream and wall-normal directions and treating the spanwise direction pseudo-spectrally. The present paper focuses on direct simulations of the wind-tunnel experiments by Kachanov et al. (1984, 1985) of fundamental breakdown in controlled transition. The numerical results agreed very well with the experimental measurements up to the second spike stage, in spite of relatively coarse spanwise resolution. Detailed analysis of the numerical data allowed identification of the essential breakdown mechanisms. In particular, from our numerical data, we could identify the dominant shear layers and vortical structures that are associated with this breakdown process.

Using a data base generated by a numerical simulation, the three-dimensional coherent structures of a transitional, spatially evolving boundary layer are determined and their spatio-temporal behaviour is investigated in detail. The coherent structures are calculated by the proper orthogonal decomposition method (POD), which leads to an expansion of the flow field variables into Karhunen-Loéve eigenfunctions. It is shown that the dynamical coherent structures of the flat-plate boundary layer can be described by pairs of eigenfunctions that contain complete information on the spatial evolution of the structures. It is further demonstrated that first-order coherent structures determined by POD correspond to structures that are observed in experiments. In the region of the boundary layer where the spike signals of transition occur, higher-order coherent structures also play an essential role. By considering these higher-order structures as well as their dynamical behaviour in time, a compact description of the flow phenomena in the boundary layer can be obtained. The description of the events occurring at the spike stages of the transitional boundary layer shows, from a coherent structures point of view, striking similarities to the bursting event of fully turbulent boundary layers.

The stability of incompressible boundary-layer flows on a semi-infinite flat plate and the growth of disturbances in such flows are investigated by numerical integration of the complete Navier–;Stokes equations for laminar two-dimensional flows. Forced time-dependent disturbances are introduced into the flow field and the reaction of the flow to such disturbances is studied by directly solving the Navier–Stokes equations using a finite-difference method. An implicit finitedifference scheme was developed for the calculation of the extremely unsteady flow fields which arose from the forced time-dependent disturbances. The problem of the numerical stability of the method called for special attention in order to avoid possible distortions of the results caused by the interaction of unstable numerical oscillations with physically meaningful perturbations. A demonstration of the suitability of the numerical method for the investigation of stability and the initial growth of disturbances is presented for small periodic perturbations. For this particular case the numerical results can be compared with linear stability theory and experimental measurements. In this paper a number of numerical calculations for small periodic disturbances are discussed in detail. The results are generally in fairly close agreement with linear stability theory or experimental measurements.