The transition of a viscous incompressible laminar flow behind a circular cylinder from a steady state to its wake, counterpart at a Reynolds number Re = 100, based on the free stream velocity (U) and the cylinder diameter (D), is directly simulated. The two-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically by taking advantage of the splitting technique and the spectral element method. The main goal of this work is to explore the frequency-selection mechanism of the wake through the use of the absolute/convective instability theory, which in turn is performed by investigating the one-dimensional Orr-Sommerfeld equation. It is found that the predicted onset frequency based on the maximum-growth criterion is in a good agreement with the numerically observed one, although the measured growth rate is found smaller. The saturated frequencies predicted by the maximum-growth criterion and Kock's transition criterion are the same and also close to the measured one. More simulation or experimental data are needed for a further conclusion however.
