Practical testing of aircraft wiring and insulation faults

Aircraft use in the world is becoming more prevalent than ever before. As these aircraft age, problems start to occur with the individual systems. With age, wires start to develop faults in the insulation that can lead to problems. These faults can provide a short that can spark and lead to aircraft failures. To keep these aircraft safe, a rigorous routine maintenance schedule is kept. The wires of the airplanes are checked often. Checking the wiring of an aircraft can be difficult considering the number of wires. Utah State University is developing a low-cost solution to providing an accurate check of these wires using reflectometry methods. These methods provide a feasible way of finding opens and shorts on the cables. Fray detection is also a major concern. By using reflectometry methods, an analysis could be made as to the feasibility of finding frays of varying sizes in different types of wires.