Research

Aircraft wire insulation degradation and advancements with WIDAS 2.0

May 5, 2011 Michael Traskos

A fundamental principle of wire analysis technologies has been the fact that wire insulations degrade over time. To this end, Lectromec developed the first generation of the Wire Insulation Degradation Analysis System (WIDAS) in the early 1990’s. The WIDAS targeted the particular needs of aircraft operators who needed a scientific basis for making fleet maintenance […] Read more

An overview of the “Big 2” wiring insulations: PTFE and ETFE

February 28, 2011 Michael Traskos

Editors Note: Article updated August 29, 2014 Most aerospace wiring insulations on the market are based on the PTFE or ETFE polymers. These polymers have a high corrosion resistance and strength and excellent dielectric properties that make them perfect for use in aircraft and radio wiring. PTFE (DuPont trade name Teflon®) is a fluorocarbon and […] Read more

Arc damage modeling tool and damage at a distance

July 4, 2008 Lectromec Team

The amount of damage that can be caused by electrical arcing events continues to be an important question for both new and legacy aircraft. Many factors can affect the damage done by arcing events. For example, events occurring a short distance from a power bus can have much higher currents and power than those a long distance […] Read more

Damage at a distance on aircraft wire systems

August 1, 2007 Lectromec Team

What is the effective distance in wire systems that electrical arcing can cause? Both lab tests and in-service incidents have shown that arcing is hot enough to cause significant damage when in direct contact with an object, but there is far less information on the damage that can be caused at a distance. Read more

EWIS evaluation of F-16

May 1, 2007 Michael Traskos

You may ask about EWIS evaluation of aircraft of a F-16. The results of recent testing indicated a rate of 5.4 breaches per 1000 feet of wire tested. Lectromec and InterConnect Wiring, at the 10th Aging Aircraft Conference, delivered a report describing a recently completed series of tests to evaluate the status of wire harnesses removed […] Read more

XL-ETFE and ETFE for aircraft wire compared

March 1, 2007 Lectromec Team

XL-ETFE and ETFE are not the same. ETFE (or commonly referred in the industry as Tefzel®) is a well known material used in the aircraft and space industry. In fact, ETFE is a widely used material in applications as diverse as automotive fuel systems to greenhouse films. ETFE has a long history of use as electrical […] Read more

For aircraft wire systems, there is no perfect conductor, not even a silver plated one

July 1, 2006 Lectromec Team

Aircraft engineers are always seeking perfect aircraft wire systems. Problems with silver plated copper wires were discovered during the 1960’s; in particular, a corrosive effect emerged that was commonly referred to as Red Plague (cuprous oxide and perhaps some cupric oxide). Read more

Improving aircraft wire management systems: The entanglement of separation standards

November 1, 2005 Lectromec Team

Separation standards are starting to emerge to help improve wire management systems. A number of airworthiness directives have been recently issued dealing with the wire hazards that result from lack of separation, either from other wires or structure. Read more

Frozen circuit breakers and EWIS reliability

October 1, 2004 Lectromec Team

Frozen circuit breakers can have an impact on EWIS reliability. Like aircraft wiring insulation that ages over time, breakers can corrode. We use breakers as switches. This frequent use accelerates wear and further degrades their reliability. During maintenance, breakers also can be fouled by swarf (drilling particles) […] Read more