SBIR-STTR Award

The Navy requires a new generation of cable harness Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) connectors designed to perform in the EMP environment. The requirements include protection from System Generated Electromagnetic pulse (SGEMP) and High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP). In addition to the nuclear environments, the connectors must meet manufacturability, signal integrity, and a host of other environmental requirements such as vibration, shock, and high temperature. The present proposal addresses the needs of SGEMP and HEMP connector optimization to overcome these challenges. Facing an increasingly competitive, threat-filled environment, DoD and its primes must digitally transform to deliver the next generation of nuclear deterrence. Complex platform requirements, significant testing expense, and emerging initiatives associated with model-based engineering can make it difficult to manage cost and schedule constraints. The use of validated digital simulation to balance competing requirements, such as the need for shielding and minimization of mass, can compress a years-long development of a component into a shorter time with less overall development cost and a better final product. In this proposal, EMA proposes the use of digital simulation of the nuclear, environmental, and signal integrity requirements to develop the Next Generation Hardened Connector (NGHC). Toward that end, EMA has over four decades built the largest library of validations that allow for digital simulation to take on a larger role in the connector design process. To address the design of cables and connectors, EMA has developed a successful commercial simulation package by the name of EMA3D. This tool allows for the prediction of HEMP and SGEMP performance at the connector and cable level. EMA3D is the only product in existence for connectors to predict both HEMP and SGEMP performance starting from 3D CAD and first principles simulation. EMA3D is also used by manufacturers around the world to optimize cables and connectors to meet Signal Integrity (SI) and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) requirements. EMA3D includes electromagnetic, nuclear particle transport, and non-linear discharge solvers to perform the evaluation of connectors and cables against the requirements. In this effort, EMA proposes the development of NGHC by modifying the proven design of COTS connectors from Glenair to meet the SGEMP, HEMP, SI, EMC, and other environmental requirements of the Navy for its boost vehicles. EMA will use the simulation product EMA3D to rapidly determine the performance against requirements and optimize the design. EMA will obtain design modifications that are economically and quickly manufacturable by semi-custom suppliers such as Glenair. Next, EMA will perform nuclear environment and environmental testing of the connectors to prove their performance.

Benefit:
The Next Generation Hardened Connector will provide a standard connector for space and boost vehicle applications for defense and commercial applications. Connectors and cables are mission-critical and have many competing requirements, such as a need for lower mass while at the same time increasing the shielding for the interior conductors. Digital engineering technologies allow for the development of new connector technologies to balance competing requirements. EMA3D is a dedicated electromagnetic cable and connector simulation tool. It delivers a design-to-validation workflow including electromagnetic interference (EMI)/electromagnetic computability (EMC) certification support and system-design evaluation for cable harnesses and connector designs in the aerospace, automotive, military, oil and gas, consumer electronics and energy sectors. When applied early in the cable harness design stage, EMA3D helps predict the performance of their products under the EMC certification tests. The space industry is booming with projections for thousands of new satellites and vehicles to be launched in the next several years alone. There is currently a major shortage of validation data, test facilities, and simulation products necessary for designing spacecraft connectors and cables for the various missions planned. Collecting data while on orbit is one possible solution. However, the cost of transporting instrumentation to space, the timelines for deploying such data gathering missions, and the need for many missions to characterize all the orbits and scenarios of interest make this an untenable solution. The proposed development program and the EMA3D product provide a means to design spacecraft rapidly and affordably for the radiation environments that they will encounter on their missions.

Keywords:
Digital Engineering, Digital Engineering, HEMP, EWIS, EMP, connectors, EMC, SGEMP

Navy boost vehicles require hardening and operate-through capability to nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects. The Navy requires a new generation of cable harness Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) connectors and cables designed to perform in the EMP environment. The requirements include protection from System Generated Electromagnetic pulse (SGEMP) and High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP). In addition to the nuclear environments, the connectors and cables must meet manufacturability, signal integrity, and a host of other environmental requirements such as vibration, shock, and high temperature variability. This proposal addresses the needs of SGEMP and HEMP cable and connector optimization to overcome these challenges. EMA proposes the use of digital simulation to develop the Next Generation of Hardened Connectors and Cables. EMA has over four decades built the largest library of validations that allow for digital simulation to take on a larger role in the connector design process. To address the design of cables and connectors, EMA has developed two successful commercial products: EMA3D Cable and EMA3D Charge. These tools allow for the prediction of HEMP and SGEMP performance at the connector and cable level. EMA3D is also used by manufacturers around the world to optimize cables and connectors to meet Signal Integrity (SI) and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) requirements. EMA3D includes electromagnetic, nuclear particle transport, and non-linear discharge solvers to evaluate connectors and cables against requirements. A typical design process for creating radiation hardened technologies is to iteratively design and manufacture protypes until all requirements are met. This is a time, labor, materials, and cost intensive process. By augmenting this design process with simulation, we can predict if a requirement will not be met before going through the process of sourcing materials, building the prototype, and physically testing for each iteration. Once a design is shown to pass through good simulation performance in a digital twin, a prototype can be manufactured for validation through physical testing. This design methodology also alleviates dependence on lab availability and sourcing materials through an inconsistent supply chain. The Phase II will continue the work started in the Phase I where an initial design and prototype of a hardened cable interconnect system were created. This prototype utilizes next generation materials such as rad-hard fiber optic and SGEMP resistance fillers. Throughout the Phase II the prototypes will be physically tested, and further simulation work will be used to finalize the cable interconnect design. The final design and prototypes delivered will have been evaluated for performance, aging, manufacturability, and maintainability. The hardened interconnect technology will meet all requirements and provide a viable solution that can be implemented into the next generation of warfighters.

Benefit:
The current radiation hardened interconnect technology used by the Navy and DoD has not been updated to utilize modern materials and design methodology. The Phase II effort will allow EMA to create a mature design and fabrication of a next generation of hardened interconnect that employs cutting edge technology in both the construction and design process. The hardened interconnect will have exceptional performance in the EMP environment and handle the anticipated high rates of data transmission and power distribution expected on the next generation of warfighters and boost vehicles. The designed interconnect will also be assessed for durability, maintainability, and manufacturability to ensure a prolonged service life before obsolescence and minimal performance deterioration from aging. The technology will be able to be integrated on any Navy or DoD platform that requires radiation and EMP hardening of cables such as Boost Vehicles, nuclear defense technology, exposed deck components on naval ships. The design process will utilize simulation to augment the typical design process of radiation hardened technologies where you produce a prototype, test it to your requirements, then iterate over until all requirements are met. By using simulation to predict the SGEMP, HIRF, and lightning exposure shielding capabilities as well as the signal integrity and EMI performance on a digital twin; we can reduce the number of prototypes, testing, and time needed to reach maturity of the design and produce a better overall technology. This effort will showcase the design methodology of using a digital twin for radiation hardening technology development and increase the quality of design and decrease the cost of development for future efforts for the Navy, DoD, and commercial space.

Keywords:
Fiber Optic, radiation hardening, SGEMP, HEMP, cable, CONNECTOR, Interconnect, EMC