Abstract
Hard disk drives (HDDs) have been widely used as data storage device. Their reliability remains crucial for securing the data stored in the drives. We study the flow behavior inside HDDs in order to understand the mechanism leading the fatal crash of the magnetic head against the disk surface. We performed a series of laboratory experiments based on flow visualization and measurements with a particle image velocimetry (PIV). A transparent HDD model was built and refractive-index matching (RIM) was applied at the experiments. The visualization revealed complex features of the flow. We present initial results of the quantitative evaluation of the velocity vector field based on the PIV measurements.
