What’s behind Aerospace Wiring Advancements? 

Designing aerospace wire harnesses poses several challenges. These include the need to ensure reliability and safety in extreme environmental conditions such as high vibrations, temperature variations, and electromagnetic interference. Engineers must also navigate space constraints and weight limitations while maintaining the integrity and performance of the electrical systems. On top of all of this, they must comply with stringent regulatory standards and ensure ease of maintenance and repair.

These challenges are driving the shift towards electrification in aerospace design. By replacing bulky hydraulic and pneumatic systems with lighter, more efficient electrical alternatives, engineers can address space and weight constraints while improving system reliability and performance. This electrification reduces fuel consumption, lowers emissions, enables quieter operation, and minimizes maintenance costs, meeting both regulatory demands and the industry’s push for more sustainable and efficient aircraft.

Electrification Opens Doors for Innovative Propulsion Systems 

Aircraft electrification enables the design of new propulsion systems with superior performance and efficiency. Hybrid-electric systems, for example, combine gas turbines with electric motors and batteries, optimizing thrust and power output. Electric propulsion also allows for distributed propulsion architectures, which reduce drag and noise pollution. These advancements necessitate advanced wire harnesses capable of handling high power densities, variable frequencies, and efficient thermal management.

Electrical Systems Are Driving the Boom in UAVs

The aerospace wire-harness market must also address unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Advancements in electrical and electronic components, alongside innovative interconnected technologies, have spurred the dramatic growth of the drone industry for both military and commercial applications. 

Simplifying Complex Modern Aircraft Wire Systems

The ever-growing electrical content within modern aerospace programs presents a significant challenge for wire harness design. Managing this surge in electrical parts is crucial for a successful design. Fortunately, there are electrical design tools out there that meet the challenge. By leveraging these advancements, aerospace companies can achieve a more efficient and manageable wire-harness design process. 

Let’s look at what those tools are that enable aircraft wiring innovations. 

Working in the Cloud 

Cloud-based software creates a central hub accessible to everyone on the project, fostering real-time communication and data exchange between design teams, manufacturers, and collaborators. This enhances transparency, ensuring that potential problems are swiftly identified and tackled, and streamlines the design process. The collaborative environment provided by cloud platforms also facilitates better project management and ensures all stakeholders are on the same page throughout the design and manufacturing phases.

Digital Twins: A Systematic Design Approach

A digital twin tackles aerospace wire-harness complexity by creating a virtual replica of the real harness. This virtual model lets engineers simulate and analyze the design throughout the process, identifying and fixing potential problems early on, rather than at the physical prototype stage. It saves time, resources, and ultimately leads to a more optimized and reliable wire harness design. By providing a platform for experimentation and simulation, digital twins also enable innovation and encourage new approaches to solving design challenges.

Standardization and Modularization  

Standardization adheres to uniform design and manufacturing standards, ensuring consistency and compatibility across projects. This results in improved quality control, cost savings, simplified maintenance, and better interoperability.

Modularization involves creating systems in self-contained units or modules that can be independently modified or replaced. This offers flexibility, scalability, and easier maintenance. These practices also facilitate easier upgrades and repairs, as standardized and modular components can be readily swapped out or updated as needed.

Detailed Documentation

Wire harnesses require detailed documentation, of course. This includes comprehensive schematics, specifications for wires and connectors, installation instructions, and maintenance procedures.

Standardization and modularization, combined with detailed wire-harness documentation, improve efficiency and maintain high performance and safety standards in aerospace systems.

Design Management: Built-in PDMs

Integrating Product Data Management (PDM) systems into the design process centralizes all design data. This includes diagrams, specifications, and revisions, ensuring access to the latest information. PDMs maintain a history of revisions to avoid errors. PDMs enhance collaboration, improve coordination, and ensure compliance with industry standards. These systems provide version control, track changes, and maintain a comprehensive record of all design modifications, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the design throughout its lifecycle.

Digital Formboards and Smart Testing 

Digital formboards replace physical templates with virtual representations, enabling highly accurate and adaptable layouts. Engineers can effortlessly add bends and adjust wire paths within a digital environment, ensuring a perfect fit and reducing errors. This seamless integration with design tools streamlines the assembly process.

Smart testing enhances quality control with automated systems that perform comprehensive electrical checks, providing real-time feedback and pinpointing issues immediately. Advanced diagnostics not only identify problems but also uncover root causes for faster resolution. Automated recording of test results ensures thorough documentation and simplifies compliance.

Next-Gen Skies: Advancements in Custom Aircraft Wiring Harnesses 

Aerospace wire harnesses are undergoing a metamorphosis, from simple connections to intelligent systems.

3D-Printing  

Traditional, bulky components are giving way to the marvels of 3D printing. This technology enables the creation of intricately designed parts that perfectly fit tight spaces and fulfill specific functional needs. This translates to weight reduction, simplified assembly, and a more efficient overall design.

Smart Wiring

Wires are no longer mere conductors. They’re becoming intelligent collaborators. Smart wiring systems integrate seamlessly with wireless sensors and fiber optics. These embedded sensors can monitor data – temperature, pressure, strain, vibration, for instance – providing real-time insights for enhanced diagnostics and predictive maintenance. Fiber optics also transmit data faster and with less interference, crucial for the ever-evolving needs of modern avionics systems.

Lightweight

Every ounce counts in aircraft design. That’s where advanced materials come in, playing a starring role. High-strength composites and cutting-edge alloys boast exceptional strength-to-weight ratios. This allows for lighter wiring harnesses without sacrificing durability, ultimately leading to improved fuel efficiency and superior aircraft performance.

Automated Design

The days of painstaking manual drafting are fading into the distance. Electronic Advanced Computer-Aided Design (ECAD) tools are revolutionizing the design process. These powerful tools enable rapid and precise design iterations. Features like automated routing and design rule checks minimize errors and streamline the development cycle.

Sustainability 

The aerospace industry is increasingly mindful of its environmental footprint. Sustainable materials and manufacturing practices are being incorporated into wiring harness development. Additionally, lightweight designs contribute to reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions.

Building for the Skies: Key Considerations in Wire Harness Design

Designing a robust and reliable wire harness for an aircraft demands meticulous attention to detail. Here are some crucial aspects that aerospace engineers must consider during the design process:

Wire and Connector Selection

The heart of the harness lies in choosing the right wires and connectors. Factors like voltage rating, temperature tolerance, and fire resistance are all carefully evaluated to ensure optimal performance and safety in the demanding aerospace environment.

Reference Designators

Every wire and connector needs a clear identification system. Reference designators act like unique addresses, enabling easy identification throughout the harness and simplifying maintenance procedures. A well defined reference designation scheme promotes clarity and minimizes the risk of errors.

Shield Termination

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can wreak havoc on sensitive avionics systems. Shielding techniques, such as braiding or metal foils, are implemented on cables to minimize EMI. Careful termination of these shields at connectors ensures their effectiveness and protects against signal disruptions.

Bundle Protection 

The choice between open and closed bundles depends on the specific application and its priorities. Open bundles are ideal for locations where repairability is a major concern, and weight savings are important – for example, inside the fuselage. Closed bundles are preferable for areas exposed to harsh environments or prone to physical damage, such as landing gear compartments and engine bays.

Zoning the Harness Design

Dividing the harness into distinct zones based on functionality offers several advantages. It simplifies assembly, improves maintainability, and helps ensure critical systems remain isolated from potential issues in other areas. This zonal approach promotes a well organized and efficient design.

Design with Standards 

Each aircraft has a specification called an Air Vehicle Specification (AVS) and the design should typically adhere to established industry standards like those set by the International Technical Aerospace (ITA) organization. This ensures consistency, safety, and regulatory compliance across the entire aircraft.

Innovative Wire Harness Solutions 

Arcadia’s cloud-based software suite supports every stage of wire harness design and manufacturing, from initial schematics to final testing and manufacturing. Examples: Arcadia Schematic allows engineers to create and simulate electrical wiring diagrams with built-in analysis tools.  

Arcadia Harness ensures clear and accurate wire harness designs with features like reverse engineering and automatic bill of materials generation. Arcadia Formboard enables the creation of full-scale digital layouts, facilitating rapid tooling and precise manufacturing documentation. Arcadia’s smart testing interfaces automate test code generation, ensuring reliable and accurate harness builds. 

And there’s still more modules that make designing modern aircraft wire systems easier. 

Together, these tools streamline the design and manufacturing process, making them indispensable for today’s aerospace wire harness design.

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See how you can improve the efficiency and quality of your aerospace wire harness design and manufacturing processes. We’re happy to give you a free demonstration of our innovative solutions, so you can see the results for yourself. If you have any questions, we’re always happy to help.