Simulation of Particle Trajectory in the Head–Disk Interface

This paper presents a numerical method to simulate the particle trajectory in the head-disk interface (HDI). The simulator solves the reduced Navier-Stokes equation with the second-slip boundary conditions to get the air velocity distribution, then solves the motion equations of particles and obtains the trajectories of the particles in the HDI using the binary Lagrange interpolation and the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The calculated trajectories of particles follow well with the air streamlines in the recessed regions. The particle density, diameter, and initial entering velocity have different effects on particle movement. Furthermore, particle velocity behaviors in the recessed regions are investigated for the first time. The particle is accelerated or decelerated by the action of the drag force and becomes close to the velocity of local air flow. Such effects are more obvious for small particles than large particles. The particle velocity becomes very small when it is close to the leading edge of the trailing pad. The numerical results also show that the particle goes up when it crosses the transition regions, and the particle moves upward more sharply with higher initial entrance height due to the larger vertical velocity of the local air flow.