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Ribbon wire fatigue

Ribbon wire fatigue

Ribbon wire fatigue

(OP)
I am pushing the recommended design limit for bending radius on a ribbon wire and would like some information.

Does anyone have a graph of (bending radius)/ (wire radius) verses cycles for ribbon wires? Or some variation of this kind of graph. My tests are running from 1M to 4M cycles on a ribbon cable that should last 100M cycles, if I followed the manufacturer's guidelines (which I can't).

RE: Ribbon wire fatigue

Is the cable metal fatiguing, or is the insulation wearing/cracking?

Most ribbon cable manufacturers don't design their basic ribbon cable for dynamic operations. You may want to look for and specify cables rated for "continuous flex" and/or intended for applications like robotics. Some examples:

http://www.alphawire.com/en/Products/Cable/Xtra-Gu...
http://www.heilind.com/products/molex/news/Molex_T...
http://www.hca.hitachi-cable.com/products/hcm/cata... (see pgs. 7, 19 "Hi Flex", pg 38)

You will need to dig deeper than those links to find recommended bend radii, expected flex life, etc.

RE: Ribbon wire fatigue

(OP)
Sometimes the wire sometimes the insulation. The wire is rated for 100M cycles just not at the bending radius that I am using.

RE: Ribbon wire fatigue

>>> My tests are running from 1M to 4M cycles on a ribbon cable that should last 100M cycles, if I followed the manufacturer's guidelines (which I can't).<<<

You're painted into a corner.

Can you make room for a rotary transformer?




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Ribbon wire fatigue

You just made your own "graph" by actually performing the tests yourself.. what more are you looking for.
You should contact the cable manufacturer to recommend a different cable or fix the improper design issue.
http://www.gore.com/en_xx/products/cables/highdata...

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