Influence of the meniscus force for contact recording head dynamics over a randomly undulating disk surface

Dynamic characteristics of a tripad contact recording head over a random undulation disk surface are analyzed considering the surface energy of a thin liquid film lubricant. The head-suspension assembly is described in terms of a three-degrees-of-freedom (3-DOF) model. The configuration of the contact pad, the lubricant, and the disk surface is classified into four regimes, and the equations of motion for each regime considering the meniscus force and the contact force are solved. It is clarified from the simulation and multiple regression results that the surface energy has significant effects on the dynamics of the contact slider.