TRIADIC RESONANT MODES - DYNAMICAL MODEL AND TRUNCATION CRITERION

In the present paper we propose a three-dimensional theoretical model describing the local evolution of any two-or three-dimensional disturb ance superimposed on a basic shear flow. A numerical investigation, us ing a truncated form of the evolution model, was performed to select r esonant three-dimensional disturbance in a transitional cylinder wake. A truncation criterion of non-lineal triadic resonance, which is a ge neralisation of the standard linear-resonance condition, allowed us to locate some triadic sets of linear eigenmodes. Numerical integration of the corresponding low-dimensional dynamical systems showed interest ing results that are in qualitative agreement with those performed by Williamson and Prasad [J. Fluid Mech. 256 (1993) 269.] This seems to v alidate the truncation criterion which, together with the theoretical model, proved to be an appropriate tool for describing the local evolu tion of large-scale structures in shear flows.