Lubricant Depletion and Disk-to-Head Lubricant Transfer at the Head-Disk Interface in Hard Disk Drives

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit P. Ambekar ◽  
David B. Bogy ◽  
C. S. Bhatia
Keyword(s):  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Lubricant Thickness ◽  
Lubricant Transfer ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Slider Air Bearing ◽  
Disk Lubricant ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Lubricant Performance

As the head-disk spacing reduces in order to achieve the areal density goal of 1 Tb/in.2, the dynamic stability of the slider is compromised due to a variety of proximity interactions. Lubricant pickup by the slider from the disk is one of the major reasons for the decrease in the stability as it contributes to meniscus forces and contamination. Disk-to-head lubricant transfer leads to lubricant pickup on the slider and also causes depletion of lubricant on the disk. In this paper, we experimentally and numerically investigate the process of disk-to-head lubricant transfer using a half-delubed disk, and we propose a parametric model based on the experimental results. We also investigate the dependence of disk-to-head lubricant transfer on the disk lubricant thickness, lubricant type, and the slider air bearing surface (ABS) design. It is concluded that disk-to-head lubricant transfer occurs without slider-disk contact and there can be more than one timescale associated with the transfer. Furthermore, the transfer increases nonlinearly with increasing disk lubricant thickness. Also, it is seen that the transfer depends on the type of lubricant used and is less for Ztetraol than for Zdol. The slider ABS design also plays an important role, and a few suggestions are made to improve the ABS design for better lubricant performance.

Boundary Effect on Particle Motion in the Head Disk Interface

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Liu ◽  
David B. Bogy
Keyword(s):  
Drag Force ◽  
Particle Motion ◽  
Boundary Effect ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Head Disk Interface ◽  
Bearing Surface ◽  
Disk Interface

Simulation of particle motion in the Head Disk Interface (HDI) helps to understand the contamination process on a slider, which is critical for achieving higher areal density of hard disk drives. In this study, the boundary effect—the presence of the slider and disk—on particle motion in the HDI is investigated. A correction factor to account for this effect is incorporated into the drag force formula for particles in a flow. A contamination criterion is provided to determine when a particle will contaminate a slider. The contamination profile on a specific Air Bearing Surface is obtained, which compares well with experiments.

Effect of Non-Operational Shock on Interaction Between Suspension Lift-Tab and Load/Unload Ramp

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aravind N. Murthy ◽  
Eric M. Jayson ◽  
Frank E. Talke
Keyword(s):  
Hard Disk Drive ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Head Disk Interface ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Operational Shock

Most hard disk drives manufactured in the last few years have Load/Unload (L/UL) technology. As opposed to the Contact Start/Stop (CSS) technology, L/UL technology has the advantage of improved areal density because of more disk space availability and better shock performance. The latter characteristic has significant benefits during the non-operational state of the hard disk drive since head/disk interactions are eliminated and the head is parked on a ramp adjacent to the disk. However, even if head/disk interactions are absent, other failure modes may occur such as lift-tab damage and dimple separation leading to flexure damage. A number of investigations have been made to study the response of the head disk interface with respect to shock when the head is parked on the disk ([1], [2]). In this paper, we address the effect of non-operational shock for L/UL disk drives.

A Model of Slider/Disk Interface Wear for Proximity Recording

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yufeng Li ◽  
Aric Menon
Keyword(s):  
Material Properties ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Carbon Overcoat ◽  
Interface Evolution ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Recording Process ◽  
Surface Topographies ◽  
Slider Air Bearing

Slider/disk interface wear is inevitable for ultra-low flying hard disk drives and is the central issue for proximity recording. While disk wear has been addressed in the literature, slider wear has been largely considered to be trivial and is ignored. However, with the improvement of disk overcoat and introduction of diamond-like-carbon overcoat on slider air bearing surface, the surface hardnesses of the slider and disk are approaching each other and, therefore, the slider surface wear becomes significant or, in some conditions, even dominant. In this study, a theoretical model is developed for semi-steady-state slider/disk interface evolution of proximity recording which takes account of both the disk and slider wear. It includes the effects of the air bearing characteristics, pitch stiffness, material properties, and surface topography of both the slider and disk. Numerical results are illustrated for typical proximity recording interface, where the evolutions of the slider, disk, contact force, and pitch angle are evaluated for various air bearing stiffnesses, material properties, and surface topographies. This model is intended to provide some fundamental understanding of the slider/disk interface evolution during proximity recording process.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Dynamic Instability in the Head Disk Interface at Proximity

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit Ambekar ◽  
Vineet Gupta ◽  
David B. Bogy
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Instability ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Flying Height ◽  
Stable Fly ◽  
Lubricant Thickness ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Fly Height

As the flying height decreases to achieve greater areal density in hard disk drives, different proximity forces act on the air bearing slider, which results in fly height modulation and instability. Identifying and characterizing these forces has become important for achieving a stable fly height at proximity. One way to study these forces is by examining the fly height hysteresis, which is a result of many constituent phenomena. The difference in the touchdown and takeoff rpm (hysteresis) was monitored for different slider designs, varying the humidity and lubricant thickness of the disks, and the sliders were monitored for lubricant pickup while the disks were examined for lubricant depletion and modulation. Correlation was established between the observed hysteresis and different possible constituent phenomena. One such phenomenon was identified as the Intermolecular Force from the correlation between the lubricant thickness and the touchdown velocity. Simulations using 3D dynamic simulation software explain the experimental trends.

A Method for Characterizing the Head-Disk Interface Dynamics Near the Touchdown Conditions Using the Magnetic Fly-Height

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Rai ◽  
Abhishek Srivastava ◽  
Bernhard Knigge ◽  
Aravind N. Murthy
Keyword(s):  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Disk Surface ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Head Disk Interface ◽  
Soft Contact ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Magnetic Spacing ◽  
Bearing Stiffness ◽  
Fly Height

Abstract Recent growth in the cloud storage industry has created a massive demand for higher capacity hard disk drives (HDD). A sub-nanometer head media spacing (HMS) remains the most critical pre-requisite to achieve the areal density needed to deliver the next generation of HDD products. Designing a robust head-disk interface (HDI) with small physical clearance requires the understanding of slider dynamics, especially when the head flies in proximity to the disk surface. In this paper, we describe a method using the magnetic read-back signal to characterize the head fly-height modulations as it undergoes a transition from a free-flying state to soft contact with the disk surface. A technique based on the magnetic fly-height sensitivity is introduced for the identification of the transition plane that corresponds to the onset of the touchdown process. Additionally, the proposed magnetic spacing based meteorology is used to study the effect of the air bearing stiffness on the magnitude of the slider vibrations induced by intermittent head-disk interactions. The information about the minimum spacing while maintaining the stable flying conditions can help in reducing the head-disk interaction risk that can enable a low clearance interface.

Multi-Body Modeling Effects on the Head-Disk Interface During Operational Shocks in Hard Disk Drives

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liping Li ◽  
David B. Bogy
Keyword(s):  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Base Plate ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Portable Devices ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Disk Drives ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Mechanical Shocks ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Multi Body

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the demand of hard disk drives (HDD) used in portable devices. In such applications HDDs are often subjected to mechanical shocks. Hence it is important to study the stability of mobile drives during operational shocks (op-shock) in order to improve their shock performance. Former numerical investigations [1–3] used either detailed structure models and simplified air bearing models or vice versa to understand the HDI response during an opshock event. In 2012, Rai and Bogy [4] proposed a method in which both the HDD components and the air bearing were modeled in detail and were coupled with each other. However, in this model the head actuator assembly (HAA) was assumed to be amounted on a fixed support and hence the flexibility of the base plate and those effects on the HAA were neglected. In this study, we model the HAA as mounted on the base plate to investigate the effects of HDD components on the shock performance of mobile drives.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Dynamic Instability in the Head Disk Interface at Proximity

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit Ambekar ◽  
Vineet Gupta ◽  
David B. Bogy
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Instability ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Flying Height ◽  
Stable Fly ◽  
Lubricant Thickness ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Fly Height

As the flying height decreases to achieve greater areal density in hard disk drives, different proximity forces act on the air bearing slider, which results in fly height modulation and instability. Identifying and characterizing these forces has become important for achieving a stable fly height at proximity. One way to study these forces is by examining the fly height hysteresis, which is a result of many constituent phenomena. The difference in the touchdown and takeoff rpm (hysteresis) was monitored for different slider designs, varying the humidity and lubricant thickness of the disks, and the sliders were monitored for lubricant pickup while the disks were examined for lubricant depletion and modulation. Correlation was established between the observed hysteresis and different possible constituent phenomena. One such phenomenon was identified as the Intermolecular Force from the correlation between the lubricant thickness and the touchdown velocity. Simulations using 3D dynamic simulation software explain the experimental trends.

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