Stiffness and damping evaluation of air bearing sliders and new designs with high damping

We apply the dynamic simulation and modal analysis method to analyze the dynamic properties of slider-air-bearings. First, the theoretical background and proposed methods are described. Then Jive basic types, one of which is first proposed in this paper, of the air bearing surfaces (ABS) are briefly discussed. The dynamic properties of the sliders are investigated, and compared with each other. It is found that a negative pressure slider has the highest stiffness and lowest damping, the TPC and two newly proposed sliders demonstrate higher damping. Finally, the general ABS design problem is briefly discussed. A new advanced slider is designed, analyzed, and compared with the other sliders. The air bearing of the new slider design has larger stiffness and the highest damping of those studied.