Dynamics of Air-Lubricated Slider Bearings for Noncontact Magnetic Recording

One of the key technologies which led to the success of modern magnetic disk storage devices is the development of self acting gas lubricated slider bearings for positioning a magnetic head precisely over a high speed rotating recording disk. This paper covers a dynamic simulation of such an air bearing system used in direct access disk storage devices. In the simulation model, the Reynolds equation, which describes the dynamics of the lubricating air film, is solved by finite difference techniques in two dimensions and time for compressible, isothermal flow. The equations of motion of the slider bearing are solved simultaneously with the Reynolds equation for three degrees of freedom. Applications of the simulation are demonstrated, and experimental measurements to verify the theory are presented and discussed.