Over the coming years, the complexity and weight of aircraft cabling is expected to increase further still in order to manage the predicted increased power consumption. As a result, manufacturers are looking at a number of ways to reduce aircrafts’ overall weight and using bespoke cabling is one of them.

Currently, many cable looms are actually discrete cables, each individually shielded and tied together by cable ties or fitted into trunking. These individual braids add enormously to the weight and bulk of each cable and also to the bulk and inflexibility of the harnesses. However, bespoke cables and harnesses can be made of wires of different weights – right down to 48AWG, which are smaller than a human hair.

Evidently, a cabling solution cannot be implemented based on weight alone; as it must also meet the rugged aerospace requirements in order to be considered an effective solution. Additionally, the number of connectors will need to be minimised; as Tekdata has done by designing a completely hermetically sealed feed-through to pass four such Nanoconnect looms simultaneously through a bulk-head.

With aircraft increasingly being manufactured from composite materials, the opportunities to implement Nanoconnect looms are expanding. As they are thin enough to be incorporated between layers of composite, wires can be fed out at different points along the length of the harness in order to accommodate different sensors and instruments; or even be left in situ for future installations.

Overall, with the aerospace industry seeking to improve fuel efficiency and develop ‘greener’ aircraft, reducing weight using Nanoconnect wiring looms could be a significant step along the road to achieving this.