Investigation of fretting wear at the dimple/gimbal interface in a hard disk drive suspension

Fretting wear of the dimple/gimbal interface in a hard disk drive suspension is investigated. The energy dissipated between the dimple and the gimbal spring is determined as a function of operating conditions and material properties, and related to the wear observed at the interface. Abrasive, adhesive and tribo-chemical wear are found to be present. A thin film of gold on the gimbal resulted in the best wear behavior.