Analysis of the Dynamic Characteristics of a HDD Spindle System Supported by Asymmetrically Grooved Journal Bearings

비대칭 그루브 저널 베어링으로 지지되는 하드디스크 스핀들 시스템의 동특성 해석

Fluid dynamic bearings (FDBs) have been replacing ball bearings of the HDD spindle motor very rapidly. But there are several demerits of HDB, such as high friction torque, variable viscosity of the fluid lubricant depending on operating temperature, low stiffness, and etc. Eccentricity is one of the major parameters which affects the static and dynamic characteristics. As the static eccentricity is larger, the stiffness and the damping coefficients become bigger. But friction torque is relatively unaffected by the static eccentricity. This research proposes a new type of journal bearing with asymmetric journal grooves which results in better dynamic characteristics. The static and dynamic characteristics of the new journal bearing are investigated by solving the Reynolds' equation with FEM, and the transient analysis is performed to predict the dynamic behavior of rotor by solving the equations of motion of a HDD spindle system with Runge-Kutta method. The result shows that the proposed Journal bearings have much bigger stiffness and damping coefficients compared with the conventional symmetric ones. And consequently, it has smaller whirl radius and tilting angle.