Experimental and theoretical investigations were made of the instability and transition of the wake behind an axisymmetric slender body at high Reynolds number. The sound from a loudspeaker was used as an artificial disturbance. The velocity fluctuations induced by the sound are selectively amplified depending on the frequency. The wavelength, the phase velocity and the amplification rate of the velocity fluctuations were measured. A linearized stability equation of the disturbance superposed on the axisymmetric wake was solved numerically for both neutral and amplified disturbances. Theoretical results on eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the stability equation show good agreement with experimental results.

Measurements on phase distributions in streamwise and azimuthal directions indicate that the line of same phase forms a helix and not a series of discrete closed loops.