Analysis of the Adhered Particle Secondary Migration on the Slider Air Bearing Surface

An entrapped particle on the slider air bearings damages the surface of the slider or the disk. The study of particle movement on and the particle adhesion mechanism onto the slider surface is critical to reduce entrapped particle-induced damage. In this paper, we extend the previous work proposing a dynamical model of the adhesive particle redistribution and migration on the slider surface. The model predicts whether the adhered particle will remain stationary action of the aerodynamic forces. Further, particle behaviors after detachment are analyzed considering the effects of flow shear rate, particle diameter and properties. There are four particle movement styles on the slider surface. Finally, the particle migration trajectory and velocity with time on the slider surface are presented.

Slider Curvature Control through Dicing Process

In the manufacturing of slider, the final step is a dicing process of the rowbars into individual slider. However, in all slider separation processes seem to affect the curvature of the slider air bearing surface (ABS). As a result, the change in ABS crown and camber which can significantly affect the fly height of the slider. This paper investigates the influence of three types of dicing process, with the same feed rate and cutting speed, on the ABS curvature.

Slider Air Bearing Design in Consideration of the Pumping Effect

The pumping effect proposed by the authors is used to analyze the contamination of the air bearing in hard disk drive. Three different types of air bearing surface are considered in the focus on the accumulation of the contamination at the rear pad where the minimum spacing is located. It is found that the contamination tends to accumulate at both the front and the rear ends of the air bearing surface pad where the shear stress of air film is interrupted due to due to the dramatic change in the spacing. The accumulation at the tailing edge of the air bearing is the most detrimental. The thickness of adsorbed film at the tailing edge increases suddenly when the terrace length at the tailing edge exceeds a critical value, which is in between 15 μm and 35 μm in this article.

Pumping Effect of Slider Air Bearing Surface for Non-Langmuir Adsorption

Numerical analysis of the adsorbed film thickness at the air bearing surface is conducted using the non-Langmuir adsorption model. It is found that the adsorbed film at the air bearing surface becomes significant when the viscosity of adsorbed film is higher than about 1 Pa s. The adsorbed contaminant will accumulate at the rear end of the slider, and it is possible that the accumulated liquid-like contaminant may form a liquid tail which will directly contact with the disk surface, resulting in a crush of the head/disk interface.