All You Need To Know About Aerospace Cables

Aerospace cables, as the name says, are not confined to be used in aviation or space applications alone. They can be also used in a variety of applications like data, power, video, Ethernet, fiber, etc. However, these aerospace cables are designed and developed in a unique manner to comply with environmental and safety requirements, along with many other factors.

Factors to be considered while constructing aerospace cables:

·        Weight – Out of all the different aspects, the consideration of weight is of prime importance as large aircrafts can require more than 100 miles of wire, which means wire weighing more than a thousand kilograms! The lower the weight of cables, the more economical the fuel consumption of the aircraft is, and greater is the speed potential. Therefore, these cables are generally made of wires with a higher temperature rating as they require lesser amount of copper, and hence weigh less.

·        Environment – Environmental factors like moisture, temperature, dampness, pressure, and vibration need to be considered. Aerospace cables must also be resistant to abrasion from surrounding cables and wires, as the abrasion can be magnified with aircraft vibration.

·        Combustibility – It is important to consider that aircrafts can be exposed to fire, and that cables when come in contact with fire emit smoke and dangerous gases. Therefore, aerospace cables must use materials that are least dangerous and emit minimal smoke.

·        Overloading – In case of an overload situation, the aerospace cables must be able to maintain circuit integrity.

·        Installation and marking – Aerospace cables must be easy to cut, strip, and terminate. They must also be flexible enough to allow for conduit routing. Also, their surface must be such that they can be clearly marked, and are receptive to label adhesion.

·        Electromagnetic interference requirements – Aerospace cables must use filtered connectors, and provide sufficient grounding at both ends of the cable to chassis ground. The use of braided shielding should be minimized, and should be replaced with foil. The data signal wires must be twisted to cancel out emission fields, and they must be shielded to minimize the transfer impedance.

Possible aerospace cable failures:

There are various failures that can be encountered if care is not taken during designing of aerospace cables.

·        Aging – Wire insulation can degrade with time. This happens when the electrical insulation dries out, and thus becomes brittle. In turn, the insulation cracks with aircraft vibration, and ultimately breaks down.

·        Chafing – When wires vibrate and rub against each other, or against the structure of the aircraft itself, chafing occurs.

·        Arc tracking – This is an electrical failure that creates a carbonized path along the surface of a non-conducting insulator that connects two electrical conductors. This occurs when there is electrical current flowing across the insulation coating instead of the wire conductor, which generates heat that causes breakdown of the insulation material.

·        Flashover – Once arc tracking is initiated, it only grows with time, thus resulting in sparks as the insulation material begins to burn.

Because of all these reasons, you must be very careful while selecting the manufacturer and supplier of aerospace cables. You will need to look out for one who uses quality materials and procedures for developing their products, and also tests them to prove that required specifications are met. This is why Miracle Electronics is the leading aerospace cable harness manufacturer in India you should approach as all their production processes are certified for quality to ISO 9001, AS9100C. Also, the quality of cable harnesses are certified and approved by DGAQA and MSQAA for platform specific applications. Furthermore, all their cable harnesses are tested for dimension, weight, and continuity, and for compliance to environmental requirements.