ACCELERATED FRICTION AND WEAR STUDIES OF VARIOUS PARTICULATE AND THIN-FILM MAGNETIC TAPES AGAINST TAPE PATH MATERIALS IN PURE SLIDING AND ROTARY SLIDING MODES

The friction and wear characteristics of various magnetic tapes mated with various tale path materials were studied in accelerated tests conducted on a reciprocating friction test apparatus. The tests were run in pure sliding and rotary/sliding modes to simulate the operations in linear and rotary head drives, respectively. Both particulate (Co-gamma Fe2O3, CrO2, MP and barium ferrite) and Co-Ni ME tapes were selected. Selected tape path materials were acetal plastic, aluminum 303 stainless steel and Mn-Zn ferrite. The tapes run in pure sliding tended to exhibit less damage than those run in rotary/sliding mode. Mating materials run in rotary/sliding mode tended to exhibit less damage than those run in pure sliding. Friction and wear characteristics seemed to improve as the hardness of the mating materials increased and as the roughness of both the tape and mating material decreased. Failure mechanisms of particulate and ME tapes were found to be different. In the case of ME tapes, primarily deposits of topical lubricants on the mating surface were observed. In the cafe of the softer mating materials, deposits of debris from the mating material cemented with tape lubricant was observed. Whereas in the case of particulate tapes, polishing, scratching and deposits of tape and mating material debris on both the tape and mating surfaces were observed. Topical lubricant in the ME tapes appeared to be the key for their durability. When run against softer materials, the durability, on a macro scale, and friction characteristics of ME tape appeared to be superior to those of the other tapes. Friction and wear of the interface with CrO2 particulate tape was the worst compared to the other tapes. The friction and wear characteristics of the Mn-Zn ferrite appeared to be superior to those of the other mating materials. When run against ferrite, particulate tapes appeared to create less damage to the interface compared to the ME tape.