Your Trusted Wiring Harness Design Partner

Wiring harness design is an engineering discipline in electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering that deals with creating electrical connections in different electronic products. A wiring harness can be described as a single arrangement of wire, cables, and connectors to join together parts of a particular device similar to the circulatory system of an animal.

Actually, harness design is not only about the placement of wires but a process flow that starts with the conceptualization of the product down to manufacturing. Several factors must be taken into account by engineers, some of which include electrical performance, mechanical characteristics, compatibility with environmental conditions, cost of efficient design of products, plus ease at which they can be maintained.

The major function of the wiring harness design is to facilitate the performance of electronic devices and systems. Specifically, harness design aims to:

1. Establish electrical connections: Make sure that the various parts of an electronic apparatus, such as sensors, actuators, and control units, are interconnected to form an electrical circuit at all times.
2. Maintain signal integrity: It should also ensure that signals do not degrade while in transmission so that it has the potential of working well with the device.
3. Enhance system reliability: It accumulates the strength of the harness, and then checks whether design and production result in failure.
4. Reduce costs: Simplify the production of the product while still maintaining its effectiveness.
5. Optimize spatial layout: Position the harness in the device in such a manner that yields as much space as is required by the harness within the device.
6. Improve electromagnetic compatibility: Limit the emission of EMI from harnesses so as to enhance the shielding performance of the entire system.

Wiring harness design typically involves the following steps:

1. Requirements analysis: Define the roles or uses of the harness, what is expected of the harness, and the surroundings in which it will operate.
2. Circuit design: Create a circuit diagram and indicate the conductor and connector with any other component used in the harness.
3. Mechanical design: Coordinate the physical configuration of the harness, including the wire sizes, length, and required routes.
4. Manufacturing process design: Determine the processes such as cutting, stripping, crimping, and the assembling process.

Among all factors influencing the Custom wiring harness, the conductor selection is one of the most significant because it determines the characteristics of the harness. Key factors to consider include:

1. Current capacity: Choose a conductor with a cross-sectional area capable of conveying the anticipated current in the form of heat or a high voltage drop.
2. Voltage rating: Select a conductor that has an appropriate level of insulation for the operating voltage.
3. Temperature rating: The insulation ability of the conductor to handle the operating temperature.
4. Conductor length: Longer conductors have higher resistance and voltage drop, considering the need for an increase in the cross-sectional area.
5. Mechanical strength: It must be able to stand services such as bending and pulling, among other mechanical services offered to it.
6. Material: Some of the conductor materials frequently used are copper, aluminum, and silver, among others. Copper provides the best conductivity, but it is rather costly. Copper is slightly more expensive and heavier than aluminum, but its conductivity is better than aluminum. Silver has better conductivity than copper, but it is extremely costly and thus mainly employed in specific applications.

Connector is another critical factor to be considered while customing wiring harness, as it dictates the reliability and ease of maintenance of the harness. Key factors to consider include:

1. Connector type: Decide on the type of connectors depending on the connection method, type of signal, and the environment where they are going to be used, for example, circular connectors, rectangular, modular, and waterproof connectors.
2. Mating cycles: Select one with a high maximum number of mating cycles if the connectors are to be mated and demated quite often.
3. Signal type: The high-frequency signals should be connected with good high-frequency characteristics connectors.
4. Contact resistance: The increased contact resistance leads to poor signal transmission and also has the tendency of producing heat.

Wiring harness design is an electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing process, and many software’s are involved in the design process. Common software tools for wiring harness design can be categorized into:

1. CAD software: AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and other related computer-aided design systems mainly focus on drawing harnesses in 3D, mechanical design, and layout design.
2. EDA software: Eagle, OrCAD, AutoCAD, and other EDA software are used in circuit designing of schematics of circuits, PCB designing, and electrical emulating for harnesses.
3. Specialized wiring harness design software: Two examples are Zuken CR-8000 and Capital HarnessXC, and also many more specialized software that automatically provides for the wiring harness design, electrical, mechanical, as well as manufacturing.

Cable harness design software typically offers the following features:

1. 3D model design: Develop assembly and interference check of harnesses through 3D models of harnesses.
2. Automated routing: Apply routing paths for the harness based on designed rules and thereby increases efficiency in the design.
3. Harness report generation: Automatically create bills of material, manufacturing drawings, assembly drawings, and many other production reports.

Custom Wiring harness manufacturing is the process of connecting several wires, cables, and connectors sequentially in the necessary electrical connections in most of the electronics.

1. Cutting: The wires should be cut into the required length required using specific machines.
2. Stripping: The insulation of the ends of the wires is removed to expose the metal part of the wire.
3. Crimping: This is made by use of a special tool that clamps the ends of the wire to the connectors vigorously.
4. Assembly: Components such as wires and connectors are then connected following the plan of the design.
5. Bundling: After that, the different wires are bundled or sometimes tied to ensure that they are well arranged.
6. Testing: After the harness is done, it is energized to check whether it functions effectively and conforms to the standards.

The standards and regulations have a profound impact on cable harness design.

1. Ensuring Product Safety: The requirements are electrical, mechanical, and environmental, which are carried out to check whether the wiring harness and the final product are safe to use or not.
2. Improving Product Quality: The requirements play a huge role in ensuring that there is a standard approach in the development and construction of products, hence leading to improvement in the kind of products that are being produced.
3. Facilitating International Trade: Such products can meet international standards, enhance export performance, and increase the market niche.
4. Reducing Risks: Cooperation in these standards is useful in the minimization of risks, including the recall of products or legal problems that may be related to the manufacture of a specific product.
5. Driving Technological Advancement: By continuing the updates of these standards, the advancements of design technologies of wiring harnesses are promoted.

As technologies applied to electronic products are improving gradually, the wiring harness design is also changing. Current trends include:

1. Modular design: Slicing up the harness into several functional sub-modules to enhance design freedom while at the same time bringing down the cost of manufacturing and minimizing the time taken in the development of the harness.
2. Lightweight design: Minimizing the harness’s weight by incorporating new lightweight structures and designs, which makes the harness less costly while at the same time enhancing its quality.
3. Miniaturization: One can observe saturation in terms of leadership and limited space for harness design, but as gadgets get more compact, harness design must follow the same path in terms of miniaturization.
4. Automated design: By adopting appropriate software like computer-aided design CAD in harness designing and by incorporating some autoCTRL production tools in manufacturing the harness, the production rate increases, and the quality of the product also enhances.
5. Virtual reality technology: Using virtual reality technology to design harnesses and verify them in using a better way of designing harnesses.
6. Intelligent design: Utilizing artificial intelligence and applying it in the execution of design towards intelligent and optimum design.

Cable harness design is a process that can sometimes cause problems with the quality of the products that are being manufactured. Some common errors include:

1. Incorrect connector selection: If the user chooses the wrong type or size of connector, it might lead to poor connections and possibly failures.
2. Improper wire gauge selection: Electrical wires that are very thin might lead to overheating and voltage drop, whereas using very thick electrical wire can lead to increased weight and cost.
3. Non-standard manufacturing processes: Defective production methods can present undesirable outcomes, such as producing a harness that can autonomously vary at certain stages in its production process.

To improve the efficiency of wiring harness design, consider the following strategies:

1. Utilize specialized software: Circuit design, modeling, and routing may be time-consuming when it comes to designing harnesses. However, if design software is applied, then it is easy to undertake harness design.
2. Establish standardized design processes: Adopting detailed design procedures or guidelines can help to minimize the cases of having to redesign a certain product.
3. Adopt a modular design approach: It is easier to collapse the harness into simpler-to-manage modules, which in turn eases the design, manufacturing, and maintenance processes.
4. Foster collaboration: It is suggested to cross the organizational structures and collaborate more effectively to boost the overall design excellence and design efficiency.

Cable harness design plays a critical role in determining the overall quality and performance of a product. Here’s how:

1. Reliability: The use of a well-designed harness can minimize additional failures within a product, thereby increasing the reliability of the product.
2. Stability: The stability of a harness determines the reliability of running a product.
3. Safety: Inadequate designs in harnesses can result in the formation of short circuits or even fires or any other danger.
4. Cost: A proper harness design means complications can be avoided at the design level, which in turn brings about cost-efficient manufacturing of the harness.
5. Serviceability: Clear labeling or using modular design ensures that technicians working on the product can repair or maintain it in the right manner.