A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF CONTACT MECHANICS BETWEEN MAGNETIC RECORDING-HEADS AND THIN-FILM DISKS

The tribological phenomena between magnetic head sliders and thin-film disks are studied during rest, during start-up and shutdown, and duri ng regular operation using numerical simulations. A theoretical model of stiction is first derived based on the surface tension of liquid an d capillary condensation. Next, a hybrid method of FEM and BEM is deve loped in order to carry out high-precision microscopic contact stress analysis of a disk covered by multilayer thin films. An impact simulat or bared on FEM is then presented which considers the air lubricant fi lm to be an elastic spring system determined from the solution of a co mpressible Reynolds equation. It is found that these simulators can be used to effectively study the tribology of slider/disk interactions a nd that the results can be used to establish qualitative design criter ia for slider/disk. mechanisms.