A study of three-body particle generation and subsequent pole tip recession in linear tape recording heads

Wear between the head and tape was found to transform the surface layers on the TiC grains in the tape-bearing surface to TiO2. This process results in the production of TiO2 fragments that become trapped in the recessed pole tip region, acting as three-body abrasive particles. The presence of Ti on the surface of head thin film region confirmed that the three-body particles originated from the head AlTiC ceramic. The TiO2 (thickness and possible areal coverage) increased with the water content increase, wear of head increased in the high water content condition.