Bombardier Uses Mentor Graphics Software for Electrical Wiring Design

Electrical systems and wire harness design is a complicated process. It’s even more complicated in the aerospace industry where all manufacturers must comply with a multitude of federal regulations.

The Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 25 Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) mandate is now necessary for certification of new civil aircraft. With the FAA’s and Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) EWIS mandate as a goal, Bombardier Aerospace was able to meet these regulations by adopting Mentor Graphics Capital software.

Bombardier Aerospace, a leading manufacturer of business jet aircraft, has implemented a complete digital development process for the Learjet 85 aircraft’s electrical distribution system.

Bombardier used Capital software from Mentor Graphics for electrical system and wire harness design.
Bombardier used Capital software from Mentor Graphics for electrical system and wire harness design.

Capital is an advanced software suite for the electrical systems and wire harness domain. Used by leading aerospace OEMs, Capital software is built to support the complex demands of integrated processes from initial aircraft definition through electrical system and design, harness manufacture and aircraft maintenance.

The Capital software used at Bombardier includes applications to address electrical systems definition and integration, integration with mechanical CAD systems, culminating with products that address the harness planning and manufacturing tasks.

Along the entire process, data verification constantly occurs which ensures that the manufactured wire harnesses meet design intent. For example, EWIS wire routing constraints defined early in the Capital environment are maintained throughout the flow and ensure that the as-built wire routing meets the EWIS mandate objectives.

Bombardier Aerospace used the Mentor Capital Logic, Capital HarnessXC and Capital FormboardXC software, supplemented by Capital’s CATIA V5 MCAD integration applications. Since all the applications are data-centric, design data defined in one application is shared between all tools ensuring digital continuity throughout the development process.

Learn more about Mentor Graphics Capital software here.

Barb Schmitz