Design and construction of an in situ inspection machine for ensuring the dynamic performance of fluid bearings in data storage devices

Abstract

The objective of the study is to design and construct an in situ inspection machine that would be used to evaluate the dynamic performance of the small-scaled hydrodynamic journal bearings used often for data-storage devices. To this end, novel design ideas of using a high-stiffness air bearing and suspending the test bearing by the specially-designed fixture frame are first proposed, which are accompanied by the special requirements in the manufacturing precisions for various dimensions and geometry characteristics of the components of the experiment system. The capacitor-type sensors, including two custom-mades are next utilized to measure the motions of the spindle and bearing. Finally, a calculating algorithm for deriving performance parameters of the test bearing are proposed, which is intended primarily to estimate rotor stiffness coefficients, load capacity, and eccentricity ratio to determine if the test bearing meet the dynamic performance expected by the original design.