An Experimental Study of the Parameters that Determine Take-Off Velocity and CSS Performance of Thin Film Disks

Abstract

Measurements of take-off velocities under various conditions were carried out in order to explain the fact that a 70 percent microslider gave better performance on CSS than a 100 percent mini slider. It was found that take-off speeds increased as the radii of CSS tracks decreased. On a 65 mm disk, use of a mini slider could result in 40 percent higher take-off velocity when the CSS track was moved from a 25 mm radius to 18 mm radius. The main contributor to this increase was found to be clamping effect. Clamping force changed the local curvature of a disk within the 2 mm range, and it overshadowed surface roughness of a disk. It was also demonstrated that stable sliders, such as a microslider or a slider with a high had, were less vulnerable to clamping effect. CSS tests confirmed that higher clamping force could drastically deteriorate CSS durability.

Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the ASME/STLE Tribology Conference in San Diego, California, October 19–21, 1992

KEYWORDS:

• Contact Start/Stop
• Microslider
• Nanoslider
• Take-off Velocity

Notes

Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the ASME/STLE Tribology Conference in San Diego, California, October 19–21, 1992