A METHOD OF CHARACTERIZING A BUNDLE OF ELECTRIC CABLES

• US 20160253436A1
• Filed: 10/23/2014
• Published: 09/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Electrical & Power
• Original Assignee: Labinal Power Systems
• Inventors: ALBERO, Franck
• Granted Patent: US 10,229,226 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2113/16 Cables, cable trees or wire harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/08 Thermal analysis or thermal optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/15 Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 13/01209 Details
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 9/003 including electrical control or communication wires

Abstract

A method of characterizing a bundle (1) of electrical cables (2, 3, 4, . . . ), comprising taking into consideration for at least one surface temperature of the cables (T_surface), firstly of at least one sum of heat fluxes (Φ₁, Φ₂, . . . , Φ_n) calculated for each cable (2, 3, 4, . . . ) for the heating effect due to the electrical resistance of each cable passing a respective electric current (i₁, i₂, . . . , i_n), and secondly of a heat flux (Φ_s) calculated for the heat given off by the bundle (1) into its environment in order to make the dimensioning of the cables (2, 3, 4, . . . ) compatible with their use.

Claims

1. A method of characterizing a bundle of electrical cables, comprising taking into consideration for at least one surface temperature of the cables, first at least one sum of incoming heat fluxes calculated for each cable for the heating effect due to the electrical resistance of each cable passing a respective electric current, and second an outgoing heat flux calculated for the heat given off by the bundle into its environment in order to make the dimensioning of the cables compatible with their use.

2. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein the consideration of said sum of incoming fluxes and said outgoing flux comprises calculating them for a given temperature constituting a constraint to be satisfied and comparing the numerical values as calculated in this way.

3. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein the consideration of said sum of incoming fluxes and said outgoing flux comprises solving an equation to obtain the temperatures that are actually reached in operation.

4. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein said sum of incoming fluxes and said outgoing flux are compared at the maximum temperature at which the cable can operate without degradation.

5. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein said sum of incoming fluxes and said outgoing flux are compared at the maximum operating temperature that guarantees safety for human operators acting on the cables.

6. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein said sum of incoming fluxes and of said outgoing flux are compared at currents corresponding to the maximum authorized temperature rises in operation for limiting losses by the Joule effect in the cables.

7. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein said sum of incoming fluxes and said outgoing flux are compared at different temperatures in order to determine the temperatures actually reached.

8. A method of characterization according to claim 1, also including evaluating, for at least one power cable of the bundle, a voltage drop calculated between the two ends of the cable.

9. A method of characterization according to claim 1, for performing preliminary design of the cable bundle by determining the diameters of the cables or by recommending that one or more cables be excluded from the bundle.

10. A method of characterization according to claim 1, for modifying a bundle design by reducing the weight of the bundle.

11. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein a comparison is also made between the outgoing heat flux and the capacity of the environment for which the bundle is designed to dissipate heat.

12. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein the material and the load specific to each cable of the bundle are taken into account when calculating fluxes.

13. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein the cables making up an electrical connection conveyed via a plurality of cable bundles may be of section that varies along their length.

14. A method of characterization according to claim 1, wherein the bundle is a bundle for aircraft, and when calculating the temperature rise of bundles during each stage of flight it is possible to take account of loading cycles of equipment, of temperature and pressure variations in zones of the aircraft, and of the characteristics of zones of the aircraft.

15. A bundle of cables fabricated by a method of fabrication including characterization in accordance with claim 1.