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At least 955 records · Page 53

Operating limitations of high-speed jet-lubricated ball bearings

A parametric study was performed with 120-mm bore angular-contact ball bearings having a nominal contact angle of 20 deg. The bearings either had an inner- or an outer-race land riding cage. Lubrication was by recirculating oil jets. The oil jets either had a single or dual orifice. Thrust load, speed, and lubricant flow rate were varied. Test results were compared with those previously reported and obtained from bearings of the same design which were under-race lubricated but run under the same conditions. Jet lubricated ball bearings were limited to speeds less than 2,500,000 DN. Bearings having inner-race land riding cages produced lower temperatures than bearings with outer-race land riding cages. For a given lubricant flow rate dual orifice jets produced lower bearing temperatures than single orifice jets. However, under-race lubrication produced under all conditions of operation lower bearing temperatures with no apparent bearing speed limitation.

Zaretsky, E. V.↗

Limit on the secular change of the gravitational constant based on studies of solar evolution

The past and present observable properties of the sun have been theoretically calculated on the assumption that the gravitational constant G increases or decreases with time. Consideration of Davis's experimental upper limit on the present solar neutrino flux and of terrestrial paleontological data sets a limit on the absolute rate of change of G, namely, the absolute value of the quotient of the change in the gravitational constant and the gravitational constant is less than 1/10 billion/yr, if other standard constants do not also change with time.

Chin, C.-W.↗

New upper limits for atmospheric constituents on Io

A spectrum of Io from 0.86 to 2.7 microns with a resolution of 3.36 per cm and a signal to rms noise ratio of 120 is presented. No absorptions due to any atmospheric constituents on Io could be found in the spectrum. Upper limits of 0.12 cm-atm for NH3, 0.12 cm-atm for CH4, 0.4 cm-atm for N2O, and 24 cm-atm for H2S were determined. Laboratory spectra of ammonia frosts as a function of temperature were compared with the spectrum of Io and showed this frost not to be present at the surface of Io. A search for possible resonance lines of carbon, silicon, and sulfur, as well as the 1.08-micron line of helium, proved negative. Upper emission limits of 60, 18, 27, and 60 kilorayleighs, respectively, were established for these lines.

Fink, U.↗

Theoretical frameworks for testing relativistic gravity. V - Post-Newtonian limit of Rosen's theory

The post-Newtonian limit of Rosen's theory of gravity is evaluated and is shown to be identical to that of general relativity, except for the post-Newtonian parameter alpha sub 2 (which is related to the difference in propagation speeds for gravitational and electromagnetic waves). Both the value of alpha sub 2 and the value of the Newtonian gravitational constant depend on the present cosmological structure of the Universe. If the cosmological structure has a specific (but presumably special) form, the Newtonian gravitational constant assumes its current value, alpha sub 2 is zero, the post-Newtonian limit of Rosen's theory is identical to that of general relativity - and standard solar system experiments cannot distinguish between the two theories.

Lee, D. L.↗

Basic limits on protocol information in data communications networks

The paper considers basic limitations on the amount of protocol information that must be transmitted in a data communication network to keep track of source and receiver addresses and of the starting and stopping of messages. Assuming Poisson message arrivals between each communicating source-receiver pair, a lower bound is found on the required protocol information for message. This lower bound is the sum of two terms, one for the message-length information, which depends only on the distribution of message lengths, and the other for the message-start information, which depends only on the product of the source-receiver pair arrival rate and the expected delay for transmitting the message. Two strategies are developed which, in the limit of large numbers of sources and receivers, almost meet the lower bound on protocol information.

Gallager, R. G.↗

A new luminosity limit for spherical accretion onto compact X-ray sources

Preheating of infalling gas by emergent X-rays can suppress accretion on to a compact X-ray source. For spherically symmetric accretion, the effect results in a new luminosity limit, orders of magnitude less than the Eddington limit, above which steady flow is impossible. The model may apply to the globular-cluster X-ray sources.

Ostriker, J. P.↗

The atmosphere of Mars near the surface - Isotope ratios and upper limits on noble gases

Several analyses of the Martian atmosphere have been carried out with the mass spectrometer in the molecular-analysis experiment. The ratios of abundant isotopes of carbon and oxygen are within 10 per cent of terrestrial values, whereas nitrogen-15 is considerably enriched on Mars. Argon-38 has been detected, and new limits on abundances of krypton and xenon have been set. The limit on krypton is sufficiently low to suggest that the inventories of volatile substances on Mars and on earth may be distinctly different.

Biemann, K.↗

Neutral hydrogen in the direction of the Small Magellatic Cloud and the limits of an extragalactic soft X-ray flux

Previously reported X-ray data from the vicinity of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have been reanalyzed using H I data from a more detailed and sensitive 21-cm survey of this region. The results support the previous conclusion: assuming that the interstellar material absorbs according to the cross sections of Brown and Gould (1970), at least 75 per cent of the observed 0.25-keV X-ray flux is of local origin. The corollary problem of placing a cosmologically useful upper limit on the extragalactic flux will be difficult to solve until the behavior of the local component is better understood; but if the local flux is isotropic, a 3-sigma upper limit of 240 photons per (sq cm s sr keV) at 0.25 keV may be placed on a flux originating beyond the SMC. Tables of H I column density are given for an area 30 deg by 30 deg about the SMC. The high-velocity component, presumably associated with the Magellanic Cloud system, and the galactic disk component are tabulated separately.

Mccammon, D.↗

Performance limitations of silicon solar cells

This paper discusses the performance limitations of silicon solar cells which have been identified and investigated using a detailed numerical analysis of solar cell operation. Efficiency limitations are discussed as related to doping densities, minority carrier lifetimes, widths of solar cell regions, surface recombination, antireflecting layers, and ohmic contact stripes. Areas in which improvements can be expected in performance are identified and discussed.

Hauser, J. R.↗

Optimum coherent imaging of a limited field of view in the presence of angular and aperture noise

The question of image distribution reconstruction for coherent illumination of an object located in the aperture far zone is considered from first principles without postulating any particular optical spread function. The object function is mathematically modeled as a complex random function of angular coordinates, and it is assumed that the object distribution of interest is angularly limited to a certain a priori assigned field of view (FOV). A linear reconstruction procedure that is uniformly optimal in the FOV is established by using the methods of statistical estimation. Two special cases are examined: imaging a limited sector of a wide-angle random scene and objects in the FOV immersed in a wide-angle background of angular noise. It is noted that the domain of application of the reconstruction method is restricted to microwave frequencies.

Borgiotti, G. V.↗

Upper limit for CH/plus/ toward Tau Scorpii

A Fabry-Perot interferometer was used to measure a 2-sigma upper limit of 0.39 mA for CH(plus) toward Tau Sco, a line of sight with a large amount of atomic hydrogen yet only a small amount of molecular hydrogen. The upper limit for the abundance of CH(plus) in a region where hydrogen is primarily atomic shows that no unexpectedly rapid CH(plus) formation processes are occurring and, conversely, that the CH(plus) destruction rate is not smaller than expected. It is argued that either CH(plus) is primarily formed in regions with large amounts of H2 or CH(plus) is formed at least as rapidly as the density-cubes in regions where hydrogen is mostly atomic.

Jura, M.↗

Study of the use of a nonlinear, rate-limited filter on pilot control signals

The use of a nonlinear, rate limited filter for rejecting the remnant (noise) in a pilot's control signal was studied through both an analytical study using pilot models and a simulation study using experienced test pilots. The nonlinear filter was compared with a linear filter and with no filter for both attitude and altitude control tasks. The results show that the nonlinear filter does promote rapid, steady maneuvering better than either the linear filter or the no filter condition. In addition, if the rate limit in the nonlinear filter is set so that it is too restrictive, a pilot induced unstable altitude oscillation can result.

Adams, J. J.↗

The cosmic-ray antiproton flux - An upper limit near that predicted for secondary production

Data gathered from a balloon flight of a superconducting-magnet spectrometer have been examined for the presence of cosmic-ray antiprotons. The ratio of antiprotons to protons, p(-)/p, in cosmic rays was found to be (0.03 + or - 3.3) ten-thousandths in the rigidity interval from 4.2 to 12.5 GV. The 95%-confidence-level upper limit for p(-)/p is thus 0.00066. This upper limit is in strong contradiction to the prediction of the closed-galaxy model of Rasmussen and Peters (1975), but is not inconsistent with the prediction of the modified closed-galaxy model of Peters and Westergaard (1977). It is nearly equal to the predictions of conventional propagation models. This result provides an independent confirmation of the absence of primary antimatter in the cosmic rays at a level of approximately a few ten-thousandths.

Badhwar, G. D.↗

The false lock performance of Costas loops with hard-limited in-phase channel

The ability of a Costas loop to false lock on a data sideband is a problem which must be dealt with in the design of suppressed-carrier receivers which employ such loops for carrier reconstruction. For conventional Costas loops wherein the error signal is formed from the product of two analog signals, the false lock problem has recently been investigated by the author and others and is now well understood. For implementation reasons associated with the reduction of dc offsets, it is often desirable to hard-limit the output of the in-phase channel and replace the analog multiplier which forms the above product with a chopper-type device. The false lock behavior of such a Costas loop with hard-limited in-phase channel is quite different from that of the conventional Costas loop and is the subject of investigation in this paper. Results are also presented for a modified version of the Costas loop wherein the quadrature arm filter is removed.

Simon, M. K.↗

Study of the use of a nonlinear, rate limited, filter on pilot control signals

The use of a filter on the pilot's control output could improve the performance of the pilot-aircraft system. What is needed is a filter with a sharp high frequency cut-off, no resonance peak, and a minimum of lag at low frequencies. The present investigation studies the usefulness of a nonlinear, rate limited, filter in performing the needed function. The nonlinear filter is compared with a linear, first order filter, and no filter. An analytical study using pilot models and a simulation study using experienced test pilots was performed. The results showed that the nonlinear filter does promote quick, steady maneuvering. It is shown that the nonlinear filter attenuates the high frequency remnant and adds less phase lag to the low frequency signal than does the linear filter. It is also shown that the rate limit in the nonlinear filter can be set to be too restrictive, causing an unstable pilot-aircraft system response.

Adams, J. J.↗

The condition of a finite Markov chain and perturbation bounds for the limiting probabilities

The inequalities bounding the relative error the norm of w- w squiggly/the norm of w are exhibited by a very simple function of E and A. Let T denote the transition matrix of an ergodic chain, C, and let A = I - T. Let E be a perturbation matrix such that T squiggly = T - E is also the transition matrix of an ergodic chain, C squiggly. Let w and w squiggly denote the limiting probability (row) vectors for C and C squiggly. The inequality is the best one possible. This bound can be significant in the numerical determination of the limiting probabilities for an ergodic chain. In addition to presenting a sharp bound for the norm of w-w squiggly/the norm of w an explicit expression for w squiggly will be derived in which w squiggly is given as a function of E, A, w and some other related terms.

Meyer, C. D., Jr.↗