Integrated windage blocker for reduction of flex cable vibration in a disk drive

A hard disk drive comprising:

• a housing comprising a cavity portion having a planar surface defining an inner bottom surface of said cavity,
• a disk pack mounted to the cavity and having a plurality of disks that are rotatable relative to the housing, the disk pack defining an axis of rotation and a radial direction relative to the axis, wherein the rotating of said plurality of disks generates an airflow;
• an actuator assembly mounted to the housing and being movable relative to the disk pack, the actuator assembly having a plurality of sliders thereon and a flex cable coupled thereto;
• and
• at least one windage blocker integrated with said housing, said at least one windage blocker for reducing detrimental local excitation of said airflow encountering said flex cable.

A method for reducing flow induced vibration related to airflow encounters with a flex cable of a hard disk drive, said method comprising:

• receiving a flex cable at an actuator assembly coupled to a base;
• providing at least one windage blocker integrated within said base proximate said actuator assembly to reduce unsteady airflow related to airflow encounters with said flex cable, thereby reducing flow induced vibration of at least a portion of said actuator assembly;
• and
• reducing vibrations of said flex cable in a frequency range of 400 Hz to 500 Hz by utilizing said windage blocker to reduce detrimental local excitation of an airflow encountering said flex cable.