Failure mechanisms of legacy aircraft wiring and interconnects

This paper presents a comprehensive list of the causes and modes of failure and ageing in legacy aircraft wiring and interconnects. Taxonomies of the electrical, mechanical, chemical and thermal stresses that contribute to the various stages of ageing and/or failure are presented. A failure modes effects and analysis (FMEA) is conducted to categorize the most serious failures. The order of severity in the FMEA is backed up by maintenance data gathered by the Royal Air Force (RAF) base Brize Norton during routine inspection.