Simulation of Tape Floating Behavior in VTR

Abstract

An efficient method for numerical simulation of tape floating behavior in VTR has been developed. Parameter survey examples for tape floating height control in some drum-guide tape systems have been shown. The spacing between a drum and a tape is one of the most important topics regarding the tape/head interface problem for a VTR. The spacing is caused by air film lubrication and can be determined by using the Reynolds equation for air and the elastic equation for a tape. Each equation is discretized, using the finite element method, and solved by the Newton-Raphson method. The results, calculated by the present method, show good agreement with experimental results. The authors also investigated tape floating behavior for several drum-guide tape systems, which are intended to decrease tape/drum spacing, especially in the head entrance region, as follows; (1) Guidepost twist effect; (2) Difference between a rotary drum configuration and a rotary center drum configuration; (3) A new groove location for tape floating height equalization.