In
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s and
fiber optics
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...
, ovality or noncircularity is the degree of deviation from perfect circularity of the cross section of the core or cladding of the fiber.
The cross-sections of the core and cladding are assumed to a first approximation to be elliptical, and ovality is defined to be twice the third
flattening
Flattening is a measure of the compression of a circle or sphere along a diameter to form an ellipse or an ellipsoid of revolution (spheroid) respectively. Other terms used are ellipticity, or oblateness. The usual notation for flattening is ...
of the ellipse,
, where ''a'' is the length of the major axis and ''b'' is the length of the minor axis. This dimensionless quantity is between and , and may be multiplied by to express ovality as a percentage. Alternatively, ovality of the core or cladding may be specified by a
tolerance field
Tolerance or toleration is the state of tolerating, or putting up with, conditionally.
Economics, business, and politics
* Toleration Party, a historic political party active in Connecticut
* Tolerant Systems, the former name of Veritas Software ...
consisting of two concentric circles, within which the cross section boundaries must lie.
In measurements, ovality is the amount of out-of-roundness of a hole or cylindrical part in the typical form of an oval.
In chemistry
In
computational chemistry
Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulation to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses methods of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into computer programs, to calculate the structures and properties of m ...
, especially in
QSAR studies, ovality
refers to, a measure of how the shape of a molecule approaches a
sphere
A sphere () is a Geometry, geometrical object that is a solid geometry, three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...
(at one extreme) or a
cigar shape (at the other).
Ovality is described by a ratio of volume to area:
where:
:O = Ovality
:A = Area
:V = Volume
The ovality of the
He atom is 1.0 and that of HC
24H (12 triple bonds) is ~1.7.
See also
*
Concentricity error
The concentricity error of an optical fiber is the distance between the center of the two concentric circles that specify the cladding diameter and the center of the two concentric circles that specify the core diameter.
The concentricity error ...
*
Roundness (object)
Roundness is the measure of how closely the shape of an object approaches that of a mathematically perfect circle. Roundness applies in two dimensions, such as the cross sectional circles along a cylindrical object such as a shaft or a cylindr ...
References
*
Federal Standard 1037C
Federal Standard 1037C, titled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms, is a United States Federal Standard issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, a ...
Fiber optics