Design and Experimental Verification of Novel Hydrodynamic Grooved Journal Bearing

This paper shows the design and characterization of a novel multi-step Hydrodynamic Grooved Journal Bearing (HGJB) for portable data storage drives. In contrast to conventional herringbone-grooved cylindrical journal bearings, the proposed HGJB contains a single set of helical grooves. The performance of the proposed bearing is characterized numerically using proprietary flow field analysis software and is verified experimentally within a laboratory-built prototype spindle motor. The simulation results show that the bearing load capacity of the proposed multi-step HGJB increases with an increasing eccentricity ratio, groove angle and rotational speed and a decreasing bearing clearance. Meanwhile, the experimental results confirm that the proposed HGJB meets the load capacity requirements of typical commercial data storage drives and prevents mechanical collisions between the spindle and the bearing and therefore yields an effective improvement in the service life of the spindle motor.