Simplified molecular gas film lubrication equation and accommodation coefficient effects

Abstract

As the spacing between the flying head/slider and the rotating disk in hard disk drives (HDDs) continues to decrease, the interaction between the molecular gas and the surfaces of the disk and the head/slider becomes significant. The influence of surface accommodation coefficient (AC) is an important factor to govern the static characteristics of the head/slider. Starting from the polynomial logarithm fitting equations of Poisueille flow rate and Couette flow rate, a new simplified molecular gas film lubrication (MGL) equation is proposed to simulate the ultra-thin air bearing film in HDDs. The new MGL equation is simpler than that of the polynomial logarithm form of MGL equation. The new approach produces very good approximations for both Poisueille flow rate and Couette flow rate with very little differences to those based on the original MGL equation. The new simplified MGL equation is solved by using a meshless method, called least square finite difference (LSFD) method. Effects of ACs on the static characteristics of air bearing films in HDDs with ultra-low flying heights are investigated. Numerical results show that effects of ACs on the static characteristics are significant for the case of symmetric molecular interaction. On the other hand, effects of ACs at the disk surface on the static characteristics are significant for the case of non-symmetric molecular interaction, while effects of ACs at the slider surface on the static characteristics are weak.