• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2013

Slider bearing is a widely used load-carrying element in the industry. While a large number of studies have investigated the effect of overall surface curvature, very few have considered sinusoidal surface. Recently, consideration of surface roughness/waviness or intentional wave design has been identified as an important issue in the manufacture of hard disk driver, mechanical seal, hydraulic machine, and etc. This study investigated the load-carrying capacity of a finite-width slider bearing with a wavy surface. Film thickness ratios, length-width ratio, ambient pressure, amplitude, and partial distribution were selected as the simulation parameters. The calculation results showed that the load-carrying capacity rapidly varied at small film thickness ratio, but the waviness near the area of minimum film thickness made much more influence with an increase in film thickness ratio. As the length-width ratio of bearing was increased, ambient pressure became more influential at small film thickness ratios. Furthermore a particular partial distribution of the wavy area led to higher load-carrying capacity than did the whole distribution. Consequently, the results of this study are expected to be of use in surface micro-machining of finite-width slider bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.207-213
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• 2017

In sliding bearings, viscous friction due to high shear acting on the bearing surface raises the oil temperature. One of the mechanisms responsible for generating the load-carrying capacity in parallel surfaces is known as the viscosity wedge effect. In this paper, we investigate the effect of film-temperature boundary conditions on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of parallel slider bearings. For this purpose, the continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation, and the energy equation with temperature-viscosity-density relations are numerically analyzed using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. Two different film-temperature boundary conditions are adopted to investigate the pressure generation mechanism. The temperature and viscosity distributions in the film thickness and flow directions were obtained, and the factors related to the pressure generation in the equation of motion were examined in detail. It was confirmed that the temperature gradients in the film and flow directions contribute heavily to the thermal wedge effect, due to which parallel slider bearing can not only support a considerable load but also reduce the frictional force, and its effect is significantly changed with the film-temperature boundary conditions. The present results can be used as basic data for THD analysis of surface-textured sliding bearings; however, further studies on various film-temperature boundary conditions are required.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.288-295
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• 2017

In order to improve the efficiency and reliability of the machine, the friction should be minimized. The most widely used method to minimize friction is to maintain the fluid lubrication state. However, we can reduce friction only up to a certain limit because of viscosity. As a result of several recent studies, surface texturing has significantly reduced the friction in highly sliding machine elements, such as mechanical seals and thrust bearings. Thus far, theoretical studies have mainly focused on isothermal/iso-viscous conditions and have not taken into account the heat generation, caused by high viscous shear, and the temperature conditions on the bearing surface. In this study, we investigate the effect of dimple depth and film-temperature boundary conditions on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of textured parallel slider bearings. We analyzed the continuity equation, the Navier-Stokes equation, the energy equation, and the temperature-viscosity and temperature-density relations using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT. We compare the temperature and pressure distributions at various dimple depths. The increase in oil temperature caused by viscous shear was higher in the dimple than in the bearing outlet because of the action of the strong vortex generated in the dimple. The lubrication characteristics significantly change with variations in the dimple depths and film-temperature boundary conditions. We can use the current results as basic data for optimum surface texturing; however, further studies are required for various temperature boundary conditions.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.247-253
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• 2018

Temperature rise due to viscous shear of the lubricating oil generates hydrodynamic pressure, even if the lubricating surfaces are parallel. This effect, known as the thermal wedge effect, varies significantly with film-temperature boundary conditions. The bearing conducts a part of the heat generated; hence, the oil temperature varies with the thermal conductivity of the bearing. In this study, we analyze the effect of thermal conductivity on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication of parallel slider bearings. We numerically analyze the continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation, energy equation including the temperature-viscosity and temperature-density relations for lubricants, and the heat conduction equation for bearing by creating a 2D model of the micro-bearing using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. We then compare the variation in temperature, viscosity, and pressure distributions with the thermal conductivity. The results demonstrate that the thermal conductivity has a significant influence on THD lubrication characteristics of parallel slider bearings. The lower the thermal conductivity, the greater the pressure generation due to the thermal wedge effect resulting in a higher load-carrying capacity and smaller frictional force. The present results can function as the basic data for optimum bearing design; however, the applicability requires further studies on various operating conditions.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.87-93
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• 2023

Nanofluids are dispersions of particles smaller than 100 nm (nanoparticles) in base fluids. They exhibit high thermal conductivity and are mainly applied in cooling applications. Nanolubricants use nanoparticles in base oils as lubricant additives, and have recently started gathering increased attention owing to their potential to improve the tribological and thermal performances of various machinery. Nanolubricants reduce friction and wear, mainly by the action of nanoparticles; however, only a few studies have considered the rheological properties of lubricants. In this study, we adopt a parallel slider bearing model that does not generate geometrical wedge effects, and conduct thermohydrodynamic (THD) analyses to evaluate the effect of higher thermal conductivity and viscosity, which are the main rheological properties of nanolubricants, on the lubrication performances. We use a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT, to numerically analyze the continuity, Navier-Stokes, energy equations with temperature-viscosity-density relations, and thermal conductivity and viscosity models of the nanolubricant. The results show the temperature and pressure distributions, load-carrying capacity (LCC), and friction force for three film-temperature boundary conditions (FTBCs). The effects of the higher thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanolubricant on the LCC and friction force differ significantly, according to the FTBC. The thermal conductivity increases with temperature, improving the cooling performance, reducing LCC, and slightly increasing the friction. The increase in viscosity increases both the LCC and friction. The analysis method in this study can be applied to develop nanolubricants that can improve the tribological and cooling performances of various equipment; however, additional research is required on this topic.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.37-42
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• 2000

The optical storage device has recently experienced significant improvements, especially for the aspects of high capacity and fast transfer rate. However, it is the fact that the optical storage device has the lower access time for the randomly scattered data compared to the hard disk drives. It is, therefore, necessary to develop a new type of optical storage system. In this study, we investigate the air bearing characteristics for the optical disk drives which have the swing arm actuator similar to the hard disk drives. Considering the requirements of the optical disk drives, we parameterize the shape of the air bearing surface and investigate its sensitivity to the flying characteristics for further optimized design outputs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1545-1551
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• 2002

The optical storage device has recently experienced significant improvement, especially for the aspects of high capacity and fast transfer rate. However, it is necessary to study a new shape of air bearing surface for the rotary type actuator because the optical storage device has the lower access time than that of HDD (Hard Disk Drives). In this study, we proposed the air bearing shape by using SA (Simulated Annealing) algorithm which is very effective to achieve the global optimum instead of many local optimums. The objective of optimization is to minimize the deviation in flying height from a target value 100nm. In addition, the pitch and roll angle should be maintained within the operation limits.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.725-733
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• 2001

Flying attitudes of the slider, which are flying height, pitch and roll, are affected by the air flow velocity, the skew angle, and the manufacturing tolerances. Traditional designs of the air bearing surface have considered only the flying performances for the variations in the air flow velocity and the skew angle, which are determined by the radial position. In this study, we present the new shape design of the air bearing surface by considering the track seek performance and the air bearing stiffness as well as the traditional design requirements. The optimization technique is used to improve the dynamic characteristics and operating performance of the newly proposed air bearing surface shape design further. The optimized configuration is obtained automatically and the optimally designed sliders show the enhanced flying and dynamic characteristics.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.15 no.2 s.95
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• pp.184-191
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• 2005

The near-field scanning micro scope (NSOM) technique is in the spotlight as the next generation storage device. Many different types of read/write mechanism for NSOM have been introduced in the literature. In order for a near-field probe to be successfully implemented in the system, a suitable slider and suspension are needed to be properly designed. The optical slider is designed considering near-filed optics and probe array. The suspension generally supports slider performance, and tracking servo capacity in HDD. Moreover, the suspension for optical slider also should meet the optical characteristics, and is also required to satisfy shock performances for the mobility for the actuator. In this study, the optical slider and the suspension for near-field probe array are designed and analyzed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.975-977
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• 2014

Recently, As portability of storage device has been increased, it is important to analyze the precise anti-shock analysis. For non-operational shock analysis, the accuracy of non-operational shock simulation has been improved. However, because operational shock analysis includes nonlinear process, it is hard to get clear result from operational shock simulation. In this paper, by using Lagrange multiplier method, the FE model including ramp-disk contact of nonlinear process will be analyzed. Through this, we find ramp-disk contact affect the dynamic of slider. Additionally, for the more accurate analysis, we should include ramp-disk contact process at the FE model.