The effect of the mechanical spoiler on 2.5-inch Hard Disk Drive fluttering

When operating at a high rotational speed, the two disks in the 2.5-inch Hard Disk Drive will flutter due to the pressure difference on two sides of the disks. The effect the thickness, length and width of upstream trapezoidal spoiler are studied with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) by FLUENT. Results show that, the pressure difference between the two surfaces of one disk (as a proxy for flutter) is reduced with increasing thickness. Pressure difference decreases first and then increases with both of the length and width increasing. For models with different length, 8mm spoiler length generates lowest pressure difference, and thus the least disk flutter. Similarly, 8mm width generates least disk flutter. It is concluded that spoilers are effective to suppress disk flutter.