Abstract: Studying the evolution of 3D disturbances is of crucial theoretical importance for understanding the transition process. The present study concerns the nonlinear evolution of second mode unstable disturbances in a supersonic boundary layer by the numerical simulation, and discusses the selectivity of 3D disturbances and possibility to transition. The results indicate that a Klebanoff type nonlinear interaction between 2D and 3D disturbances with the same frequency may amplify a band of 3D disturbances centered at a finite spanwise wavenumber. That is, certain 3D disturbances can be selectively and rapidly amplified by the unstable 2D disturbances, and certain small-scale 3D structures will appear.

Key words: thick-walled cylinder and spherical shell, strain gradient, nonlocal, viscoplasticity, supersonic flat-plate boundary layer, nonlinear interaction, secondary instability, selectivity of 3D disturbance