Carbide factor predicts rolling-element bearing fatigue life

Analysis was made to determine correlation between number and size of carbide particles and rolling-element fatigue. Correlation was established, and carbide factor was derived that can be used to predict fatigue life more effectively than such variables as heat treatment, chemical composition, and hardening mechanism

Study of hot hardness characteristics of tool steels

Hardness measurements of tool steel materials in electric furnace at elevated temperatures and low oxygen environment are discussed. Development of equation to predict short term hardness as function of intial room temperature hardness of steel is reported. Types of steel involved in the process are identified

Short-term hot hardness characteristics of rolling-element steels

Short-term hot hardness studies were performed with five vacuum-melted steels at temperatures from 294 to 887 K (70 to 1140 F). Based upon a minimum Rockwell C hardness of 58, the temperature limitation on all materials studied was dependent on the initial room temperature hardness and the tempering temperature of each material. For the same room temperature hardness, the short-term hot hardness characteristics were identical and independent of material composition. An equation was developed to predict the short-term hardness at temperature as a function of initial room temperature hardness for AISI 52100, as well as the high-speed tool steels

An adjustable law of motion for relativistic spherical shells

A classical and a relativistic law of motion for an advancing shell are deduced applying the thin layer approximation. A new parameter connected with the quantity of absorbed matter in the expansion is introduced; this allows of matching theory and observation.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures and article in press; Central European Journal of Physics 201

X-ray Spectroscopy of Candidate Ultracompact X-ray Binaries

We present high-resolution spectroscopy of the neutron star/low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) 4U 1850-087 and 4U 0513-40 as part of our continuing study of known and candidate ultracompact binaries. The LMXB 4U 1850-087 is one of four systems in which we had previously inferred an unusual Ne/O ratio in the absorption along the line of sight, most likely from material local to the binaries. However, our recent Chandra X-ray Observatory LETGS spectrum of 4U 1850-087 finds a Ne/O ratio by number of 0.22+/-0.05, smaller than previously measured and consistent with the expected interstellar value. We propose that variations in the Ne/O ratio due to source variability, as previously observed in these sources, can explain the difference between the low- and high-resolution spectral results for 4U 1850-087. Our XMM-Newton RGS observation of 4U 0513-40 also shows no unusual abundance ratios in the absorption along the line of sight. We also present spectral results from a third candidate ultracompact binary, 4U 1822-000, whose spectrum is well fit by an absorbed power-law + blackbody model with absorption consistent with the expected interstellar value. Finally, we present the non-detection of a fourth candidate ultracompact binary, 4U 1905+000, with an upper limit on the source luminosity of < 1 x 10^{32} erg s^{-1}. Using archival data, we show that the source has entered an extended quiescent state.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication to the Astrophysical Journa

Influence of the r-mode instability on hypercritically accreting neutron stars

We have investigated an influence of the r-mode instability on hypercritically accreting ($\dot{M}\sim 1M_\odot {y}^{-1}$) neutron stars in close binary systems during their common envelope phases based on the scenario proposed by Bethe et al. \shortcite{bethe-brown-lee}. On the one hand neutron stars are heated by the accreted matter at the stellar surface, but on the other hand they are also cooled down by the neutrino radiation. At the same time, the accreted matter transports its angular momentum and mass to the star. We have studied the evolution of the stellar mass, temperature and rotational frequency. The gravitational-wave-driven instability of the r-mode oscillation strongly suppresses spinning-up of the star, whose final rotational frequency is well below the mass-shedding limit, typically as small as 10% of that of the mass-shedding state. On a very short time scale the rotational frequency tends to approach a certain constant value and saturates there as far as the amount of the accreted mass does not exceed a certain limit to collapse to a black hole. This implies that the similar mechanism of gravitational radiation as the so-called Wagoner star may work in this process. The star is spun up by accretion until the angular momentum loss by gravitational radiation balances the accretion torque. The time-integrated dimensionless strain of the radiated gravitational wave may be large enough to be detectable by the gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO II.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

X-Ray Spectroscopy of the Low-Mass X-ray Binaries 2S 0918-549 and 4U1543-624: Evidence for Neon-Rich Degenerate Donors

We present high-resolution spectroscopy of the neutron-star/low-mass X-ray binaries 2S 0918-549 and 4U 1543-624 with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer onboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Reflection Grating Spectrometer onboard XMM-Newton. Previous low-resolution spectra of both sources showed a broad line-like feature at 0.7 keV that was originally attributed to unresolved line emission. We recently showed that this feature could also be due to excess neutral Ne absorption, and this is confirmed by the new high-resolution Chandra spectra. The Chandra spectra are each well fit by an absorbed power-law + blackbody model with a modified Ne/O number ratio of 0.52+/-0.12 for 2S 0918-549 and 1.5+/-0.3 for 4U 1543-624, compared to the interstellar-medium value of 0.18. The XMM spectrum of 2S 0918-549 is best fit by an absorbed power-law model with a Ne/O number ratio of 0.46+/-0.03, consistent with the Chandra result. On the other hand, the XMM spectrum of 4U 1543-624 is softer and less luminous than the Chandra spectrum and has a best-fit Ne/O number ratio of 0.54+/-0.03. The difference between the measured abundances and the expected interstellar ratio, as well as the variation of the column densities of O and Ne in 4U 1543-624, supports the suggestion that there is absorption local to these binaries. We propose that the variations in the O and Ne column densities of 4U 1543-624 are caused by changes in the ionization structure of the local absorbing material. It is important to understand the effect of ionization on the measured absorption columns before the abundance of the local material can be determined. This work supports our earlier suggestion that 2S 0918-549 and 4U 1543-624 are ultracompact binaries with Ne-rich companions.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, major revisions including addition of XMM spectral analysis, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, vol. 59

Spherically symmetric relativistic MHD simulations of pulsar wind nebulae in supernova remnants

Pulsars, formed during supernova explosions, are known to be sources of relativistic magnetized winds whose interaction with the expanding supernova remnants (SNRs) gives rise to a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). We present spherically symmetric relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) simulations of the interaction of a pulsar wind with the surrounding SNR, both in particle and magnetically dominated regimes. As shown by previous simulations, the evolution can be divided in three phases: free expansion, a transient phase characterized by the compression and reverberation of the reverse shock, and a final Sedov expansion. The evolution of the contact discontinuity between the PWN and the SNR (and consequently of the SNR itself) is almost independent of the magnetization of the nebula as long as the total (magnetic plus particle) energy is the same. However, a different behaviour of the PWN internal structure is observable during the compression-reverberation phase, depending on the degree of magnetization=2E The simulations were performed using the third order conservative scheme by Del Zanna et al. (2003).Comment: 11 pages, Latex, 22 Encapsulated PostScript figures, accepted f or publication on A&

Impacts of misalignment effects on the Muon Spectrometer Performance

The ATLAS detector, currently being installed at CERN, is designed to exploit the full potential of the LHC, identifying and providing highly accurate energy and momentum measurements of particles emerging from the LHC protonproton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy at 14 TeV, starting in 2007. High-momentum final-state muons are among the most promising signatures at the LHC, thanks to a high-resolution Muon Spectrometer with standalone triggering and momentum measurement. As well known, muons interact primarily trough their electromagnetic charge, but since they are 200 times more massive than the electrons they are less affected by the electric fields of the nuclei they encounter. Muons with an energy of more than a few GeV penetrate the calorimeter and can reach the Muon Spectrometer, which consists out of more than 1.200 single drift-tubes chambers. The correct alignment of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer is crucial to ensure its design performance. This note documents the first attempt at using various misaligned Muonspectrometer layouts to study their impacts Muon Spectrometer performance

Aql X-1 in Outburst and Quiescence

We present photometry and spectroscopy of the soft x-ray transient Aql X-1. Optical photometry during an active state shows a strong (0.6 mag peak-to-peak) modulation at a period of 19 hours. Infrared (K'-band) photometry during a quiescent state limits any ellipsoidal variations to <0.07 mag (peak-to-peak), which implies an inclination i<31 (90% limit). Spectroscopy in a quiescent state shows at most very small radial velocity variations, which implies a very low inclination of i<12 (90% limit). The low inclination is rather unexpected given the large photometric modulation seen in the active state. The upper limit to the equivalent width of the anomalous Li 6707A line is <0.3A, which is similar to the measured strength of this line in several other x-ray transients.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 12 pages, 5 figure