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The first flow visualization experimental results of transition in plane Couette flow are reported. The Couette flow water channel was of an infinite-belt type with counter-moving walls. The belt and channel walls were transparent making it possible to visualize the flow pattern in the streamwise-spanwise plane by utilizing fluid-suspended reflective flakes. Transition was triggered by a high-amplitude pointwise disturbance. The transitional Reynolds number, i.e. the lowest Reynolds number for which turbulence can be sustained, was determined to be 360 ± 10, based on half-channel height and half the velocity difference between the walls. For Reynolds numbers above this value a large enough amplitude of the initial disturbance gave rise to a growing turbulent spot. Its shape and spreading rate was determined for Reynolds numbers up to 1000.
Tillmark et al. (Sat,) studied this question.