Numerical solution of Reynolds' equation for ultra-thin gas film lubrication at the head/disk interface

In order to improve the convergence occurred in solving the Reynolds' Equation for ultra-thin gas film lubrication numerically, a method to solve the equation based on the PDE toolbox was proposed. The pressure distributions on the surfaces of flat and two-trail sliders with different Knudson numbers and minimum gaps (flying height) between slider and disk were calculated, and the air bearing force was integrated consequently. It is showed that the calculated results are in good agreement with those obtained by MGL and DSMC methods. This method exhibits great convergence, indicating that it is beneficial to the solution of Reynolds' equation for the head/disk interface with complex slider profiles.