Simulation and optimization of performances of an electrostatic microactuator for HDD

Abstract

Growth of recording density in hard disk drive (HDD) has been explosive in recent years. As a result very precise positioning of the read/write heads with a higher servo bandwidth has become a necessity. Since conventional voice coil motor cannot meet such requirements, a microactuator as a secondary positioning device is introduced in this thesis. Static characteristic of this microactuator is studied in order to know its driving capability. Vibration of the microactuator integrated with the slider is simulated and resonant frequencies and mode shapes are obtained. Response surface method (RSM) is used to optimize the design of a key componenta?? the spring. After optimization, the voltage needed to drive the recording head is greatly reduced and the reliability of the microactuator is maximized. Both analytical and numerical modeling have been presented and results of computation have been compared in this work. Very satisfactory results have been achieved.