Pattaramon Jongpradist, Rattharong Rojbunsongsri, and Chatchapol Sukkana

pp. 533 - 540

Abstract

A ball swaging process is commonly used in the hard disk drive manufacturing process to attach a suspension arm to an actuator arm via a part known as the baseplate. The geometry of the baseplate affects the contact pressure profile between the baseplate and the arm, torque retention of the swaged connection, and deformation of the assembly parts. In the current study, the effects of altering the baseplate geometric parameters on its characteristics are studied. A large-deformation
dynamic finite element analysis of a ball swaging process is performed by using a commercial program ABAQUS. The products of combining several geometric parameters are also investigated so as to obtain the baseplate geometry with improved torque retention and reduced tilt angle. It is concluded that a proper design of the baseplate is in such way that the
baseplate boss and the arm possess the largest contact area and that the stress concentration at the baseplate neck is minimal.