The transition process of a small-amplitude wave packet, generated by a controlled short-duration air pulse, to the formation of a turbulent spot is traced experimentally in a laminar boundary layer. The vertical and spanwise structures of the flow field are mapped at several downstream locations. The measurements, which include all three velocity components, show three stages of transition. In the first stage, the wave packet can be treated as a superposition of two- and three-dimensional waves according to linear stability theory, and most of the energy is centred around a mode corresponding to the most amplified wave. In the second stage, most of the energy is transferred to oblique waves which are centred around a wave having half the frequency of the most amplified linear mode. During this stage, the amplitude of the wave packet increases from 0.5 % to 5 % of the free-stream velocity. In the final stage, a turbulent spot develops and the amplitude of the disturbance increases to 27 % of the free-stream velocity.Theoretical aspects of the various stages are considered. The amplitude and phase distributions of various modes of all three velocity components are compared with the solutions provided by linear stability theory. The agreement between the theoretical and measured distributions is very good during the first two stages of transition. Based on linear stability theory, it is shown that the two-dimensional mode of the streamwise velocity component is not necessarily the most energetic wave. While linear stability theory fails to predict the generation of the oblique waves in the second stage of transition, it is demonstrated that this stage appears to be governed by Craik-type subharmonic resonances.
