A method of designing an improved bearing system is provided. In one
embodiment, the method for designing a fluid dynamic bearing system
includes determining a first stability ratio for a first journal bearing
configuration. The method further includes determining a second stability
ratio for a second journal bearing configuration. In one embodiment, the
first configuration has two sub-journal bearings and the second
configuration has three sub-journal bearings. The two stability ratios
may then be compared to determine whether adding a sub-journal increases
the stability ratio of the bearing system.