Digital Engineering For Nuclear, Environmental, and Signal Integrity Performance of the Next Generation Hardened Connector

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.