The investigation undertaken deals with the development of disturbances in a supersonic wake (free viscous layer and regular wake) behind a flat plate both in its linear and nonlinear stages. The influence of a number of factors (Mach and Reynolds numbers, temperature factor, thickness of the plate, length of its stern) on the wake stability and transition was studied. The development of the artificial disturbances in a wake at Mach number M∞ = 2 was investigated also.

It was found that compressibility of the flow (increasing Mach number) stabilizes the wake disturbances – their amplification rates decrease, and the transition point moves away from the model plate. Cooling of the model surface at M∞ ≈ 7 has a destabilizing influence on the development of disturbances in the wake. With increase of unit Reynolds number the beginning of transition in the wake moves forward to a rear critical point. It was confirmed that a distinctive maximum in the spectral distribution of fluctuations appears, corresponding to Strouhal number (based on frequency of this maximum) of 0.3. With the growth of the model thickness the disturbance amplification rates in the wake increase, which results in earlier transition of a laminar wake into turbulent one. With the growth of length of the plate stern, the position of the wake transition moves back accordingly, while the wake stability increases a little (though very unsignificantly). In the nonlinear stage of development of disturbances, the occurrence of a triad of waves, satisfying the resonant correlation of frequencies, and the growth of harmonics are observed. A monochromatic packet of waves of Tollmien–Schlichting type, rather narrow (in the transversal coordinate) in the boundary layers on a flat plate with an opposite wedge at the stern, was found to extend in the wake. The wake disturbances have a complex wave structure. At the Mach number of free flow 2.0, the three-dimensional disturbances are the most unstable in the wake.