Mitigation of flow induced vibration of head gimbal assembly

The airflow of a 10,000 rpm hard disk drive is simulated using the LES turbulent model. The critical parameters for using LES model to get the correct/reliable result are discussed. The flow induced vibration of the head gimbal assembly is calculated with the obtained fluid force acting on the head gimbal assembly (HGA) and compared with measured results. Good agreement is observed between the measured and simulated results. The optimization of the airflow is further carried out to reduce the flow induced vibration of the HGA. It is found that almost 50% reduction of flow induced vibration of the HGA can be achieved with the proposed modifications for airflow optimization.