At the end of every year, Lectromec rummages through that year’s publications and articles to find the most popular ones. In 2018, this required going through 32 articles (7 were picked up by publications), revisiting two webinars, and 12 podcasts. Here are the top 5 Lectromec publications of 2018.
As an aside, the team at Lectromec thanks all of our clients for trusting us with your EWIS component and system testing/certification needs. We look forward to doing more in 2019.
#5 – Connector Failure Rates (Two parts)
This two-part series examined the factors impacting aircraft connectors leading to their eventual failure. This area of analysis has been difficult as, historically, the level of detail of EWIS component failures were severely lacking. Some organizations would create a single failure number for an entire circuit, regardless of the wires or connections made in that circuit. Part #1 Part #2
#4 Maximum Harness Ampacity
Surprising to some, the issue of harness ampacity continues to be one of great interest. Perhaps the interest in this field is due to the growing complexity of aircraft power systems. For example, if a wire supplies power to a component, and the power signature for that equipment is Pulse Width Modulated (PWM), does this require different considerations than one with steady state power? Article
#3 Correcting Bad Wire System Guidance
Having a reliable aircraft is something to be proud of and, if given the chance, most mechanics will choose to do things right. Training is always needed to stay on top of the latest technologies, but something that can be done on a regular basis is to address bad guidance.
Lectromec came across a set of guidance and recommendations that we feel needs to be corrected. We do this because Lectromec’s mission is for safe reliable aircraft wiring systems. If misinformation and/or incorrect assumptions are applied, then there can be hazardous or catastrophic consequences. Article
No, this is not a new and approved wire repair technique. EWIS is a high-complexity system and the design/maintenance choices should be based on vetted information.
#2 Condition Based Maintenance
Aircraft maintenance is usually broken down one of two ways: by physical zones or by systems. The mechanical equipment and subsystems integrity program, also known as MECSIP, is the US Air Force’s approach to addressing aircraft sustainment and maintenance through focused system evaluation. This article covers some of the topics covered at the USAF’s 2018 MECSIP managers meeting. Article
#1 – Shield Grounding
We are still not sure how, but shield grounding was Lectromec’s most popular article of 2018. Perhaps the push for more electric aircraft is driving the need to better address signal integrity and performance. More power flowing through the aircraft means higher levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Aerospace environmental test standards like DO-160 identify several ways on how to evaluate electrical device performance. Typically, the testing is done at the device or system level, but considerations must be made for the electrical wiring interconnect system (EWIS). If the wiring system shielding is not handled properly, the performance of the expensive LRU will be degraded or rendered useless. Article
Lectromec’s Most Popular 2018 Podcast: Galvanic Corrosion and Red Plague
Any concept that has earned the word “plague” in its name is certain to be an infamous hassle. The “Red Plague” of the aerospace industry is no exception. For decades, the plague has been identified with corrosion impacting the performance of silver-plated copper conductors. Listen to it here.
In 2019
Lectromec will continue to publish articles on wiring, system certification, and maintenance/sustainment as long as there is more to write about. We look forward to supporting you for you and your wire systems projects.
Michael Traskos
President, Lectromec
michael.traskos@lectromec.comMichael has been involved in wire degradation and failure assessments for more than a decade. He has worked on dozens of projects assessing the reliability and qualification of EWIS components. Michael is an FAA DER with a delegated authority covering EWIS certification and the chairman of the SAE AE-8A EWIS installation committee.