THE INFLUENCE OF HEAD PARAMETERS ON TAKE-OFF VELOCITY

Wear at the head-disk interface of magnetic recording devices is depen dent on the sliding contact distance. The sliding distance is dependen t on head takeoff velocity (TOV). In this study, the dependence of TOV on selected bead parameters was measured with an air bearing spindle equipped with a strain gauge. Considering the range that was studied f or each parameter, TOV was found to be strongly dependent on crown, sk ew angle, ski jump, and suspension preload, in decreasing order. Cambe r height and rail width were found to have a lesser influence. Edge bl end did not affect TOV, however increasing edge blend improved the hea d-disk performance in contact start-stop (CSS) tests.