Measurement and prediction of tape edge wear using accelerated wear testing

A rotating drum tester was developed to investigate accelerated tape edge wear. The results from accelerated wear measurements were found to be in good agreement with tape edge wear measurements from an actual tape drive. The wear coefficients for the magnetic layer, the back coat, and the base film of typical tapes were determined on a pin-on-disk tester and used to predict the tape edge wear coefficient of a tri-layer composite tape. Predicted tape edge wear results were found to be in good agreement with actual tape edge wear results in a tape drive.