Tolerance Ring Design in the Actuator Arm of a Hard Disk Drive Using Finite Element Analysis

Abstract:

This paper presents conceptual designs for the tolerance ring in the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in order to reduce the total deformation of the tolerance ring and decrease the installation force during the assembly process of the actuator arm, while maintaining the natural frequency within the specification range. In this research, finite element analysis was employed to compare and analyze the installation forces, total deformations of the tolerance ring and the natural frequencies of Actuator Pivot Flex Assembly (APFA). Around its cylindrical body, the tolerance ring consists of several waves which provide rigidity for the APFA assembly to resist the axial rocking motion of the actuator arm. The idea is to decrease the contact surface area between the waves and the e-block by smoothing the contact surface of the waves along the installation direction while maintaining sufficient friction to resist the axial rocking motion. The objective of this research was to minimize the total deformation and installation force. The three input variables, i.e. width, length and height of the alternating flat curve design, were analyzed together by using the engineering optimization. The decreasing of the total deformation of the tolerance ring and installation force during APFA assembly would increase the number of cycles of the reworking process which can help increase the productivity and efficiency of HDD manufacturing.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 275-277)
• Pages: 716-730
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.275-277.716
• Online since: January 2013
• Authors: Somkid Suthaweesub, Arbtip Dheeravongkit
• Keywords: Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Hard Disk Drive, Mechanical Vibration, Natural Frequency, Tolerance Ring

References

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