Abstract: A large number of experiments have been devoted to the study of the generation and development of the high-frequency structures, i.e. the chain of ring-like vortices and breakdown of the chain of ring-like vortices, to the investigation of their relevance to laminar-turbulent transition in a boundary layer flow; however, the origins of turbulence via the process of flow randomization are still not well understood. For this reason a detailed experiment was performed to document the important shape and configuration of the late-stage transitional structures and to investigate some of the still insufficiently understood mechanisms of flow randomization.

Key words: chain of ring vortices, transition, flow instability