MINIATURE FLUID DYNAMIC BEARING WITH IMPROVED LOAD CAPACITY

In this paper a novel design is proposed to improve the load capacity of fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) for miniature spindle motors and small-form-factor data storage applications. In contrast to conventional miniature FDB with two sets of herringbone grooves on its inner surface, the proposed miniature FDB comprises another one set of herringbone grooves on its outer surface. The proposed miniature FDB is verified numerically utilizing commercial software Advanced Rotating Machinery Dynamics (ARMD). The simulation results show that compared to the conventional miniature FDB, the proposed miniature FDB can obviously improve the load capacity of the bearing system. Overall, the results presented in this study show that the proposed miniature FDB provides another solution for miniature spindle motor applications.