An Automated Process For Numerical Evaluation Of Cable Stiffnesses

The proper design of cabling and cable harnesses plays an increasingly important role in a growing number of business areas and technical applications, such as tool building, aerospace and especially in the automotive industry. Due to the fast growing number of electronic and mechatronic systems, e.g. sensors, actuators and control devices, the development and validation of wiring systems is increasingly essential to product development and the planning of production processes. More than 1000 meters of cables are installed in a European medium-sized vehicle. Up to now the validation of cable routings in the development process is mainly conducted on prototypes. The manufacturing of such a prototype takes about 6 months and costs around €500.000-1 million. Due to increasing complexity of the products and the worldwide competitive pressure, it is of fundamental importance to reduce the development time and costs.