JOURNAL OF RESEARCH of the National Bureau of Standards-C.

Engineering and Instrumentation

Vol. 69C, No.2, April-June 1965

Common Volume of Two Intersecting Cylinders

J. H. Hubbell
(Oct ober 29, 1964)

The volume common to two cylinders of radii r , ::; r2 with axes intersecting at angle
is found to be r~v ( k ) /s in (3, wher e k = rl /r2 and v(k) may be evaluated (1) as t h e hy pergeometric series

{3

(2) as t he combination of complete elliptic integrals (8/3) [(1 + k 2) E (k ) - (1- k2) K (k) or
(3) as the cumulative integral
8

.C

kE (k )dk.

A table of v( k) to 8 decimals over the ran gc 0 ::; k (0.01 ) ::; 1.00, including 0;' modified second
central d ifferences, is presented. This volum e integral was useful in interpret ing a gammaray albedo exp eri ment involving a collimated s ource and a collimated d et ector, and may also
be applicable to crossed-beam experim ents. Two series useful for k close to unity are provided, one of wh ich involves differencing against t he series

1. Introduction

"

In crossed-b eam experiments [1 ] 1 using the highintensity accel erators now becoming available, th e
"geometrical target," or volume common to the two
colliding beams, is a useful parameter for interpreting
the measured data. An evalu ation of this volume in
terms of an infmite series was recently exhum ed for
possible application to an x-ray free-air ionization
chamb er having a Gylindrical sensitive volume intersected by a pencil of x rays [2]. This evaluation
had b een used in t he analysis of a gamma-ray beam
back-scattering experiment [3] for making a theoretical estimate of the single-scattered component of
the radiation "seen" by a collimated detector.
Evalu ations of the volume common to two circular
cylinders of unequal radii with axes intersecting
at right angles [4, 5, 6], and of equal radii with axes
intersecting at an arbitrary angle [7], have frequ en tly
been offered as calculus textbook exercises. H owever, a combined treatment does not seem to appear
in t he technical literature in a form convenient for
easy application to practical problems. The following r esults provide formulas, a table, and a graph
for such applications.
The series used in [3] is here corrected, expressed
in terms of binomial coeffi cients, and identified as a
hypergeometric series. For nearly equal cylinder
radii, convergence can be accelerated by use of the
difference-seri es technique [8]. An alternative series

for t his region, derived from the right-angle ellipticintegral solu tion [4, 5, 6], is more complicated but
also more rapidly convergent.

2 . Volume Integral
The integr al for the common volume of two
cylinders of r adii 1'1':::; 1'2 with axes intersecting at
angle {3 (see fig. 1) is found as follows. The cross
section parallel to the cylinder axes, at a distance
x from them, is a parallelogram of h eight 2(1'~_ X2) 1 /2
and base 2(1'~- x2)1 /2!sin {3. Hence t h e volume integral is
T
2 ( 1,2 x2 ) 1/2
V(1' 1'2 (3) =
' 2 (1'2_ X2)1 /2 .
1:dx
(1 a)
I"
-71
2
SIn {3

(1b )

3 . Common Volume When r l = r 2

For equal cylinder radii 1'1 = 1'2= 1', the integral in
(Ib) reduces to the familiar result [7]
(2)

(3)
1

Figures in brackets indicate t he literature references at tbe end of this paper.

139

This same result may be obtained by casting the

integral in (1b) in the form
V(1'l ' 1'2, (3) = (1'Usin (3)4
><

'Fzz:{==p==u:Zj --.L ..:

(~)2

(I
Jo
t-

I / 2 (I

_ t )1/ 2

(1 -~2t )1 /2dt,

(6)-

where t=x2/1'i, which is now recognizable as the

integral representation of the hy pergeometric series
[10]
V(1'l, 1'2, (3) = (rVsin (3)271"

-4' ~; 2;~)

(~y2FI (

(7)

identifiable with (5).

Since (5) is somewhat slowly convergent when
1'l~1'2 , under some circumstances it may be advantageou s to difference this series again st a 1/71"series (16) discussed in the appendix, giving

(t) (n-t 1)[1- (1'1)2"J}

.
1'2

471"1'~(3 { -34 - L;
'"
V (1'l, 1'2, (3) =-;-SIn
71" n=1 n

(8)

The convergence rate of the series-term in (8) is

not improved over that of (5). However, for
1'1~1'2 this sum is small compared to the constant
term 4/371", identifiable with the equal-radii solut ion
(3), hence resulting in higher precision of V(1'l ,
1'2, (3) for the same number of terms. An alternative series solution for this region is given at the
end of the following section.

J
1. Three-view sketch of the common volume of cylinders
wtth radii r l and 1'2 axially intersecting at angle {3.

FIGURE

The area of the shaded parallelogram parallel to the plane of the axes in the lower
left view comprises t he integrand in eq (l a) and is integrated over the range
-Tl~x5rl shown in the other two v iews.

4.2. Elliptic Integral Solution

4. Common Volume When r 1 ::;r 2

An alternative solution of the integral in (lb) may

be obtained as a combination of complete elliptic
integrals [11] of the first and second kinds, K(k )
and E(k). Applying formulas (219.11 ) and (3 61.03)
from Byrd and Friedman [12] the result is found to
be 2

4.1. Series Solution

The factor (1'~-x2)1 /2 in the integral in (1b) may
be expanded as a power series [9, ~. 2, eq 5.3]
in x/1'2, since x::;1'l::;rZ' The volume mtegral then
becomes

where

which mtj,y be integrated term by term.

The resulting series solution is

k =1't/1'2.

Except for the angle factor l /sin (3 this result is

the st andard textbook solution [5, 6] for cylind ers
intersecting at right angles. Also, the formulation
in (9) is related to the indefulite integral [12, eq
(611.01 )]
7 ( 1 3 . 5
-10 246 8
4_

3
'"
= _._"'_2 ~

)2(1'1)
10
r; -

(1.) (n-l
1. ) (1'....!.
) 2n
1'2
2

sm (3 n=1 n

...

.r

}
(5)

kE(k)dk=~ [(1 + F )E(k)-(l-P)K(k)].

(10)

2 This integral is part of the "0 factor" used for interpreting gas scattering experiments in which a circular-aperture detector views a gas target transversed
by a cylindrical beam. In this context this elliptic integral solut ion has been
given by E. A. Silverstein, N ucl. Instr. and Meth. 4, 53 (1959) and by D. F .
H erring and K . W . Jones, Nuc!. Instr. and M eth. 30, 88 (1964).

140

m which values of v(lc) are in t erpolat ed from table 1.

A p ar tial ch eck on (9) is obtained by expandin g

E (lc) . and K (lc) as pow er series in k according to
refer en ce [9], eqs (773. 1) itnd (774.1 ) . Combining
like powers of k and substituting b ack rJ T2 for k the
r esulting series is iden t ical wit h (5) . A n addition al
ch eck is provided by th e identity of eqs (9) and (3)
in th e limit as lc - tl . Also, eq (9) can b e ob tain ed
from (7) by use of the ten th Gauss r ecur sion formul a
on p age 9 of referen ce [10].
F or lc close to unity, a series which con verges m or e
rapidly than (8) m ay now be derived by substitu ting
) in (9) th e series in equations (773.3) and (774.3 ) in
refer en ce [9] for K (lc) and E (lc). The first few terms
of this series are

TABLE

M odi fi ed sccone\ central differences o~ are provided for interpolation using

auxiliary tables .
k

(11)

where lc, 2= 1- lc 2= 1- (Tl /r2) 2. Usin g only th e terms

given in (11) th e sum for 1'1 /1'2= 0.90, with ou t th e
factor (rUsin f3) , gives 4.49991 482 as comp itred
with the exact valu e of 4.4999 1288 . . . , an d th e
con ver gen ce improves as 1'1 /1'2 goe to ward unity.
The series in (11) m ay be ob tain ed in general form ,
if desired , by use of t he appropriate t ransformation
[13] on t h e hy p ergeometric series given in (7).

5 . Numerical Results
In table 1, the dimensionless fac tor

v(lc ) =

sin 13
3- V(r" 1'2, 13),
1'2

= 47r

~ (!)
(1)
n n- l

n= l

(12a)

lc 2n ,

(1 2b )

o!

v(k)

/1

0. 00

0.0000

0000

+ 12

5665

.0 1
, 02
,03
,04
, 05

0.0006
0,0025
0,0056
0,0 100
0,0\57

283 1
13 15
5423
5 109
0305

12
12
J2
J2
12

5656
5627
5580

,06
,07
, 08
, 09
, 10

0,0226
0,0:J07
0,0401
0, 0508
0, 0627

0928
6874
80 19
4222
532 1

12
1.2
J2
J2
12

5325

. 11
. ]2

0,0759
0,0903
0, 1059
0, 1228
0, 1409

1 138
147 1
6 104
4797
7294

12
J2
J2
12
J2

, 16 0, 1603
,17 0. J809
, 18 0,2027
, 19 0,2257
,2O 0,2500

33 1.6
2569
47J5
9478
6441

,2 1
, 22
, 23
,24
,25

0,2755
0, 3022
0,3301.
0, 3592
0, 3896

,26
,27
,28
, 29
,30

o~

v(I;)

0,5 1
,52
,53
,54
,55

I. 5792
1. 6394
1.7005
I. 7627
1. 8257

3625
2033
8043
0439
7969

+9

9
9
9
9

8789
7607
6391
5142
3854

,56
,57
,58
,59
,60

1. 8897
1. 9547
2, 0205
2, 087J
2, 1549

934 6
3247
8308
:J 128
6262

9
9
8
8
8

2530
1167
9766
8323
6837

4302
4065
3807
3530

,6 1
,62
,63
,64
,65

2,2234
2,2928
2,:J630
2, 4340
2,5058

6226
1190
0478
J570
3093

8
8
8
8
7

5308
3734
211 2
0441
8719

12
12
12
12
12

3234
29 17
258 1
22"24
1848

,66
, 67
, 68
,69
, 7O

2.5784
2, 6518
2,12.,9
2,8007
2,8763

3325
0490
2757
8235
4974

7
7
7
7

6943
5113
3222
1272
9258

5248
5502
6786
8660
0667

12
12
12
12
11

1451
1034
0595
0136
9656

,71
, 72
,73
,74
, 75

2, 9526
3.0295
3, 1071
3, 1853
3,2641

0957
4102
2253
3179
4571

6
6
6
6
5

7174
5020
2791
0481
8086

0, 4211
0, 453
0, 4877
0,5228
0,5590

2326
31 :J5
2572
0092
5 129

11
11
11
11
11

9154
8632
8087
7520
6932

,76
, 77
, 78
, 79
,80

3,3435
3, 4234
3, 5039
3,5849
3,6664

4031
9073
71 11
5457
1308

5
5
5
4
4

5600
30 16
0328
7527
4605

,3 1
, 32
, 33
,34
,35

0,596<1
0,6350
0,6747
0, 7 156
0,7577

7093
5373
9:J36
832:J
1654

11
11
11
11

6320
5686
5029
4348
3644

,8 1
,82
,83
,84
.85

3,7483
3,8306
3, 9 133
3, 9963
4,0797

1740
3696
3972
9206
5861

4
3
3
3
2

1550
8350
4992
1456
7725

,36
, 37
, :J8
, 39
, 40

0,8008
0,845 1
0.8906
0.9:J7l
0,9847

8626
8508
0549
3970
7969

II

11
10

291 5
2163
138"
0582
9753

,86
,87
,88
,89
,9O

4, 1634
4,2472
4,33 1.:J
4, 41 55
4, 4999

0199
8265
5853
8469
1288

2
1
1
1

3 774
9574
5089
0276
5075

, 41
, 42
. 43
. 44
. 45

1. 0335
1. 0833
I. J342
1. 1862
1. 2392

17 16
4356
5009
2764
6686

10
10
10
10
10

8899
8017
7108
6171
5207

, 9J
, 92
,93
, 94
,95

4.5842
4, 6686

4,8371
4, 9210

9096
62 13
6390
2665
7158

I
2
3

586
6811
3730
1554
0581

, 46
, 47
, 48
, 49
,50

1. 2933
I. 3484
1. 4046
1. 46 18
1. 5200

5809
9 14 1
5657
4304
3999

1O
10
10
10
+ 9

4213
3191
2J37
1053
9937

,96
, 97
,98
, 99
1. 00

5, 0047
5, 0879
5, 1705
5.2525
5, 3333

0740
2495
8678
0293
3333

4
5
-7

1308
4606
1824

, 13
, 14
, 15

.. .

1. V ah es of v(k) , defined in eq (1 2a- e), over the ran ge

O:S; k (O. Ol ) :s; 1.00, va lid to the 8D given

11
II
11

55 t4
5429

5203
506 1
4900
4720

4520

4.7529

----

- ---

(12c)
= 8. r lcE (lc)dlc,

(12d)

= i [(1 + Jc2 )E (k) -(l - Jc2)K (lc )],

(l2e)

wher e lc = 1'lh is t abula t ed to 8 decimal places for

o::; lc (O.Ol ) ::; 1.00, com p uted using (12e) and K (k )
a nd E(lc) from [11 ]. H en ce, for m a ny practical
application s, t h e common volume of t 'NO cylinder
with r adii 1\ ::; 1'2 and axe intersecting a t an gle 13
may b e co mpu ted as

Vh,

1'~

1'2, (3) =---=------r.; v(k )

sm fJ

(13)

M odified second central differ en ces 0;, ar e included

for interpolation by E verett's formula

wher e p is the in terpolation fr action of th e interval of

tabula tion !J.k, and O;',i' O;n,i+ J are the m odified second
difl'er ences a t th e tabular p oints i and i + 1 and were
evaluated from the second and four th differen ces
accordin g to

141

Everett's coefficients E2(P) and F2(P) are available

in standard tables [14, 15] and are identical with
Lagrangian interpolation coefficients A~l and A~
[16, table 25.1].
The general behavior of v(k ) is shown by the curve
in figure 2 . Values of v(k) can be taken directly
from this curve for use in rough calculations where
only two- or three-figure accuracy is required.

An additional1 /7T-series, which also does not appear

in standard compilations of series [17], can be obtained by combining (16) with a series discussed by
Bromwich [18], [17, eq 274]
4

"' (1.)2

__ ~

7T

n-1

n=1

)2 (

)2

1)2 ( 1
1. 3
= 1+ ( 2" + 2.4 + 2.4.6 + ...
(17)
to form

1) [(n"21) + (n"21- 1)]

4 + _=~"2
4
_
00
(

371" 71"

n=1

n-1

(18)

Using the addi tion theorem

v (k )

(19)

the result is
16

", (

1. ) (l~!.)

371"=~ n~l

= 1 -3 + -131
- + _ 1 .311
_2 2 24 24 246
13 3113
+2,4.6'2,4.6.8

0. 2

0 .4

0. 6

0.8

+ 1,35
3 . 1 ' 1 . 3 5 +
2,4,6 . 8 ' 2 4 6 . 8 ' 10 ".,

1. 0

(20)

k=r,/ r 2
FIGURE

2. Graph of v(k) ohowing the general behavior of the

function and suitable for rough calculations.

6 . Appendix.

Two Series for 1/7T

The series evaluation (5) for V(1'l ,1'd3) contains a

factor of 7T and the formula (3) for VeT, (3) does not.
Thus, for 1'1 = 1'2 = 1', the right-hand side of (5) can
be equated to the right-hand side of (3) to form

The author thanks E. Hayward for suggesting

the problem, and P. Lamperti and L. W, B. Jolley
for their stimulating interest in the cylinder intersection and 1/71" series, respectively. The author is
also indebted to F. W. J. Olver, 1. A. Stegun, L. F.
Epstein, and A. Fletcher for suggestions and comments, and especially to Mrs. Ruth Oapuano for
computing table 1.

(15)

[1] A. Schoch, A discussion of colliding beam techniques,

Nuclear Inst!". and Methods 11, 40 (1961).
[2] P. Lamperti, private communication.
[3] E. Hayward and J . H. Hubbell, The backscattering of the
C060 gamma rays from infinite media, J. of Appl.
Phys . 25, 506 (1954).
[4] W . E. Byerly, Elements of the Integral Calculus (G inn
and Co., Boston, 1902), p. 281, ex. (5a), which is
incorrect.
[5] H . Hancock, Elliptic Integrals p. 89, ex. (6) (John Wiley
& Sons, New York, N.Y., 1917).
[6] P. Franklin, Methods of Advanced Calculus, p. 299, ex. 77
(McGraw-Hill, Now York and London, 1944).
[7] See, for example, J. Edwards, A Treatise on the Integral
Calculus. J., p. 793, ex. (23) (MacMillan, London,
1921) .

from which

5(246
1.3)2
-

-8

...

7 , References

(16)

This series can now be used to form the differenceseries in eq (8).

142

[8] L. F. Epstein and N. E. French, Improving the convergence of series: Application to some elliptic integrals,
Am. Math. Monthly 63, 698 (1956); also L. F. Epstein
and J. H. Hubbell, Evaluation of a generalized elliptictype integral, J. R es. NBS 67B, 1 (1963).
[9] See, for example, H. B. Dwight, Tables of Integrals and
Other Mathematical Data, 3d ed. p. 2, eq (5.3).
(MacMillan, New York, 1957).
[10] W. Magnus and F. ObCl'hettinger, Formulas a nn
Theorems for the Special Functions of Mathematical
Physics, p. 8 (Chelsca Pub I. Co., New York, 1949).
[11] A. F letcher, A table of completc elliptic intcg rals, Phil.
Mag. (7) 30, 516 (1940), in which K(k) and E(k) a re
conveniently tabulated for 0 5k(0.01) S 1.00 to ten
decimals.
[12] P. F . Byrd and M. D. Friedman, Handbook of E lliptic
I ntegrals for Engineers and Physicists (SpringerVerlag, Berlin, 1954).
[13] A. Erdelyi, W. Magnus, F. Oberhettinger and F . G.
Tricomi, H igher T r anscendental Functions Vo l. 1,
p. 110, eq (12). (Bateman Manuscript P r oject).

[14] H. T. Davis, Tables of the Higher Mathematical Functions, Vol. 1, pp. 126-127 (Principia Press, Bloomington, Indiana, 1933)
[15] Nautical Almanac Office, I nterpolation and Allied Tables,
pp.44-53 (H.M . Stationery Office, London , 1956) .
[16] M. Abramowitz and 1. A. Stegun, eds., Handbook of
M athematical Functions, NBS Applied Math. Series
55, pp. 880, 901-3 (J une, 1964).
[17] See, for example, L. W. B. Jolley, Summation of Series
(Dover, New York, revised 2d edition, 1961). Note
that eq (409), p . 76 of this reference is identical with
(274) p. 50 if the limiting sum is changed from (11 /".) - 4
to t he correct value of (16/".) - 4.
[1 ] T . J . Bromwich, Introduction to the Theory of I nfinite
Series, p. 190 (MacM illa n Co., London , 1926).

(Paper 69C2- 193)

143