Feasible method for accelerated testing of head-disk interface tribological behavior

In order to assess the tribological behavior of a head-disk interface, rigorous test procedures involving time-consuming contact-start-stop tests are used. Considering the high rate at which new hard disk models have to be introduced to the market, there is a strong motivation in the industry to be able to reduce this evaluation time and cost. In this work, feasible methods that can be used to accelerate the slider-disk tribological assessment of a hard disk drive are presented. A drag test and low ambient pressure tests were performed to induce more contact between the slider and the disk. These test methods were compared with normal contact-start-stop test results with respect to stiction or friction, bump wear, and slider contamination. Finally, the degree of accelerated wear rate of these tests was analyzed based on Archard's wear equation. It is expected that results presented in this work can be used as a screening method for slider-disk compatibility from the tribological point of view.