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Addressing the Top 10 Connectivity Challenges in Developing Electric Aircraft AEROSPACE, DEFENSE & MARINE / Addressing the Top 10 Connectivity Challenges in Developing Electric Aircraft 3 compartments need to be easily inspected. Strain relief on connectors, molded cable assemblies, and secure tiedowns can help avoid chafed components and material fatigue. High reliability connectivity products include high performance, fatigue and stress relaxation resilient connector materials and redundancy in connector contact systems. 4. Premium on Weight Reduction Unlike conventional aircraft that become lighter by burning fuel, eVTOL aircraft weight does not diminish over distance and discharged batteries are quite literally "dead weight". That's why EWIS designers need to carefully calculate and compare the weight of connectivity components for a given amperage and wiring architecture. Components used in industrial energy storage and management are typically not weight optimized. Advanced, lightweight materials (plastics and composites) and 3D printing can create "right sized" components for tight spaces and weight optimization. High-efficiency relays and contactors are now available that can handle HV and high amperage within a compact footprint. Advanced HV relays and contactors offer voltage ratings up to 70 kV DC and current ratings up to 1,000 Amps within a useful size-to-power ratio. Compact cables, terminations, and connectors are also available for optimal size, weight, and power rating. 5. Resistance Against Arc Tracking and Hydraulic Fluid With higher voltages come unusual causes of catastrophic failure. Dust, moisture, exhaust, and other pollutants can create pathways for current to travel across a material. Electric discharges can then occur, which risk causing an explosion in flight--or on the ground when fast charging aircrafts are in high moisture environments. An arc-tracking index can be used to evaluate how readily a given voltage travels across a material's surface if it's clean or polluted. Wire is available with dual-wall construction using radiation cross-linked modified materials that resists carbon arc tracking even when contaminated with hydraulic and de-icing fluids. 6. Strict Flammability, Toxicity, and Smoke Requirements The air inside aircraft circulates within an enclosed space. That's why all materials are flammability, smoke, and toxicity rated. Connectors, wiring jackets, and other insulating materials must not only be self-extinguishable but also limit emission of toxic smoke. Silicone may be suitable for high voltages but tends to be very smokey when ignited. Halogenated flame retardants act directly against the chemistry of a flame, but the smoke can be toxic. Flame-retardant materials that are either low-smoke zero halogen or low- smoke free of halogen are ideal. 7. Altitude and Pressure Effects Voltage differences become more extreme as altitude, temperature, and frequency increase. The conditions under which a given material supports partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) and partial discharge extinction voltage (PDEV) can be mapped in a Paschen curve. These points can be used to determine the thickness of dielectric insulation required at specific altitudes and distances between conductive surfaces. Unmanned Power connector (UMP) offers up to 80Amps per contact and mix power flexibility. KILOVAC CAP120 high-voltage contactor SHF260 highly flexible wire provides oustanding chemicals and fluid resistance