Accelerated Natural Convergence for Pivoted Slider Bearings

A solution technique is discussed which accelerates the convergence of the pivoted slider bearing problem. The technique is based on a fully populated, three-degrees-of-freedom stiffness matrix for the hydrodynamic lubricating film. This matrix is developed using a unique perturbation method which, when used in conjunction with a finite element formulation of the Reynolds equation, yields the bearing stiffnesses in a computationally efficient manner. The resulting natural convergence of this hydrodynamic stiffness approach is examined for a typical rigid disk magnetic recording slider. Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the ASME/STLE Tribology Conference in Lahaina, Hawaii, October 16–20, 1994