Measurements of flow and fluctuating heat transfer were made for a circular cylinder in cross-flow with a transverse standing sound field imposed simultaneously. Reynolds numbers were of the order of 104, known to be in the disturbance-sensitive range, and sound intensities were as large as 140 db. The frequencies of the sound field were of the order of the disturbance frequency in the separated shear layers, reported first by Bloor.

With a sound field having its frequency matched sufficiently closely to that occurring naturally in the shear layer, the growth of the instability is enhanced with the processes of vortex fusion and possibly vortex breakdown being detectable. At the same time, the vortex street frequency is only very weakly affected, although the vortex formation region length is reduced when the instability in the shear layer is enhanced. It is suggested that the discretization of vorticity in the shear layers is one factor significant in reducing the formation length. Heat transfer at the rear of the cylinder fluctuates at frequencies centred on the shedding frequency. The fluctuation level increases as the formation region shortens.