Reducing Automotive Wire Harness Design Time and Cost Using Simulation

One of the many critical design criteria for vehicle harness design is circuit protection. This process typically involves calculating the maximum load on each wire manually and then comparing the result to a spreadsheet that may be quite old. Testing physical prototypes occurs so late in the design process that problems found can be very expensive to rectify. Using simulation to detect faults, such as short circuits or the time for the fuse to blow vs. the time for the wire to smoke is an effective solution that can not only save a great deal in costs, but shorten the development cycle as well.