Investigation of HDD Ramp Unloading Processes with an Efficient Scheme

Abstract

Ramp load/unload (L/UL) mechanisms are widely used to rest sliders in hard disk drives (HDDs). Loading/unloading a slider swiftly and smoothly is crucial in a HDD design. A novel, efficient simulation scheme is proposed to investigate the behaviors of a head disk interface (HDI) in ramp unloading processes. A dual scale model is enabled by decoupling the nano-meter scale change of an air bearing and the micro- or milli-meter scale deformation of a suspension. A modified Reynolds equation governing the air bearing was solved numerically. The slider design was characterized with performance functions. Three stages in an unloading process were analyzed with a lumped parameter suspension model. Key parameters for the model were estimated with a comprehensive finite element suspension model. Finally, simulation results are presented for a commercial HDI design.