DSMC/MGL comparisons of stresses on slider air bearing with nanometer spacings

Pressure and shear stress distributions on the slider air-bearing surface were calculated using a molecular gas-film lubrication (MGL) equation and direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method with an accommodation coefficient α as a parameter, which characterizes the gas surface scattering at the boundary surfaces. As the accommodation coefficient α decreases, which means that the rates of diffuse reflection at boundary surface decreases, pressures and shear stresses decrease. Both MGL analyses and DSMC results agree well with each other.