Motor noise generation and prediction for high spinning speed hard disk drive

The acoustic level of a hard disk drive is an important specification. This is especially so for enterprise HDD which is required to operate under a high spinning speed. In order to reduce the acoustics level of a HDD, an in depth understanding behind the mechanisms whereby the noise is being generated in a HDD should be established. This paper will study the acoustics characteristics of a high speed permanent magnet brushless DC motor (PM BLDC) and investigate the physics underlying the generation of noise associated with a motor. An analysis procedure of the PM BLDC motor noise generating mechanisms is proposed. Through finite element analysis and experimental verification, the results indicate that the major noise source for the high speed PM BLDC motor is due to the presence of electromagnetic (EM) torque ripples. Furthermore, it has been observed that the noise radiated by a HDD can be amplified when its structural dynamics are close to the frequency components of the noise source. Finally, a methodology which discusses the steps involved in the prediction of motor radiated noise will be presented.