Structural mechanic finite element analysis of the bend and torsion behavior of high-voltage cables

The use of electric power systems in automobiles represents a massive change in the production line of car manufacturers. To guarantee an efficient and at the same time damage free installation of the current carrying high-voltage cables, virtual validation of assembly operations makes an important contribution. On the market available simulation tools like IC:IDO Flexible II, IPS Cable Simulation and TEA Pipe compute the rigidity of the cable system by using substituted material properties. The high-voltage cable producers don´t provide these substituted parameters. Measuring the properties during a physical experiment is inefficient because of the high time exposure and costs. The complex structure of the high-voltage cables and the high number of variants lead to the advantage of simulation opposite experiment. So the need for research is a finite element model to generate the necessary substituted material properties in a time and cost efficient way. To achieve this goal, bend and torsion tests of detailed cable models are simulated and matched with experimental results for validation. Under the premise of the plastic material behavior of the wire and the interface friction between the individual cable components, different mesh strategies are evaluated. The performance of beam against solid element meshed wires is crucial and the element size influence to the result quality is researched. For a robust convergence the complex contact problem is mapped by the Augmented-LaGrange algorithm and the fitted contact stiffness between the individual cable components. The results are the influence of the plasticity and the interface friction to the change of the stiffness properties depending on the cable load.