Abstract:
This primary aim of this research is to study the vibration characteristics of the HGA under the
effects of air flow due to the harddisk media disc rotation and HGA seeking motion. We study a
standard 3.5-inch disc with a rotation speed of 72OORPM. The dynamical stability of the HGA is
assessed through its equations of motion analysis using numerical methods. It is found that the
maximum tangential flow velocity is observed when the HGA makes an angle of 50 degree with the
axis joining the disc and HGA centres of rotation. The flow velocities range between 11.4-12.8 m/s
along the HGA longitudinal axis and the maximum Reynold's number of 2175 is observed at the
HGA tip. With these information, it is decided that a 10:1 scale model of the HGA will be suitable
for the physical experiments. The model is made from stainless steel 304L, the same materials as the
actual HGA to replicate its physical properties. The HGA aerodynamic properties are validated
against the steady flow lift and pitching moment characteristics determined from a CFD code.
Finally, several experiments are set up to determine the HGA physical parameters such as the
moment of inertia, damping coefficient and the stiffness with an assumption that the HGA is a rigid
body in a one degree-of-freedom system in the direction of bending. The research also proposes and
employs a new unsteady flow mathematical model which is based on the indicial response technique
(similar to the Leishman-Beddoes dynamic stall model). The new aerodynamic model and the
physical parameters are then used in the HGA equation of motion, which is numerically integrated
with an adaptive time-step Runge-Kutta algorithm. The solutions are found for a range of spring
stiffnesses between 0.195-0.305 N.m/rad. and it is found that the spring constant higher than 0.28
N.m/rad will result in HGA dynamic stability. This result may be useful in the design process
especially during the material selection processes. Even though these results are only applicable to
the current HGA design, the method can be applied to future designs and it is much more
economical than conventional wind tunnel tests and full scale CFD analyses.