Application and analysis of tape in automotive wiring harness

Tape is widely used in automotive wiring harness, and its role is to bind wires, protect wires, make insulation protective layer, absorb sound and reduce noise, mark and fix, etc. With the development of the automotive industry and the improvement of design concept, the use of wire harness in different functional parts and the requirements of tape performance have diversified. Various styles and tape with different material characteristics appear throughout the automotive industry, providing a strong guarantee for the protection and performance improvement of automotive wiring harnesses.

The classification and main characteristics of commonly used tape for automotive wiring harness are generally divided into three categories according to the material and characteristics of commonly used tape

1.PVC tape

2. Duct tape

3. Sponge strap

1.PVC tape 

PVC tape is called polyvinyl chloride electrical insulation pressure sensitive adhesive tape, its base material is soft PVC film, viscose is natural rubber, acrylic rubber, synthetic rubber and other as the main material of the adhesive layer, PVC tape has good temperature resistance, cold resistance, corrosion resistance, oil resistance, flame retardant and other characteristics. The specifications of PVC tape are generally 8x10, 10x10, 12x10, 19x20, 38x20, and the standard thickness of the tape is generally 0.12mm, 0.15mm, 0.2mm, 0.25mm, etc. PVC tape due to different auxiliary ingredients lead to different working temperature ranges, commonly used PVC tape has three ambient temperature ranges :-40~85 ° C, -40~105 ° C, -40~135 ° C (special).

2. Duct tape

Duct tape referred to as PET tape, commonly used duct tape has the following types: fiber duct tape; Polyester cloth tape; Wool-polyester cloth base tape; Velvet tape; Felt tape; Electrical insulation waterproof tape; No tape base tape, etc. Duct tape is not flame retardant, the commonly used color of duct tape is black, the commonly used specifications of duct tape are generally 20x25, 40x25, etc., and the thickness of the duct tape is generally 0.25~0.8mm.

2.1 Fiber duct tape

The base material of the fiber cloth tape is artificial fiber, and the adhesive is composed of rubber or acrylic glue. It has high adhesive performance, can be torn by hand, good flexibility, general fatigue resistance, general oil resistance, and no corrosion resistance. It is suitable for the working temperature range of -40~105℃, and the thickness of the tape is generally 0.25mm.

2.2 Polyester duct tape

The polyester cloth base tape is made of high quality polyacetate cloth base with oil resistance, and the adhesive is acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive. It has the characteristics of high strength, not easy to tear, high adhesive performance, corrosion resistance, oil resistance, high temperature resistance, wear resistance, aging resistance, good flexibility, etc. The working temperature range is -40~150℃, and the thickness of the tape is generally 0.25mm.

2.3 wool-polyester cloth duct tape

The wool-polyester cloth base tape is soft non-woven wool-polyester cloth and the adhesive is acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive. It has aging resistance, high adhesive performance, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, no noise, good flexibility, oil resistance, high temperature resistance and other properties, and good tearing ability. The working temperature range is -40~105℃. The tape thickness is generally 0.25mm.

2.4 Flannel tape

The base material of flannelette tape is polyacid amine flannelette, and the adhesive is acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive. It has high adhesion, high noise reduction, good flexibility, oil resistance, aging resistance, wear resistance and other properties. Due to the different additional ingredients of the substrate, the working temperature range of the flannel tape is generally: -40~105℃; -40~125℃. The thickness of the tape is generally 0.3~0.8mm.

2.5 Felt tape

The base material of the felt tape is polypropylene fiber non-woven material (polypropylene felt), wool felt fluff weave, polyester cotton or chemical fiber non-woven felt, etc., and the viscose is pressure sensitive adhesive. Good adhesive performance, wear resistance, seismic noise reduction performance, good weather resistance, its working temperature range is generally -40~125℃.

2.6 Electrical insulation and waterproof tape

The base material of the electrical insulation waterproof tape is acrylic fiber cloth, and the viscose is rubber. It has good waterproof performance, abrasion resistance and easy tearing. The temperature range of the tape is -40~130℃, and the thickness of the tape is 0.3mm.

2.7 Non-adhesive baseband

The material of the non-adhesive tape is flannelette, there is no adhesive on the tape, and it has high noise reduction, good flexibility, aging resistance, wear resistance and other properties. Its operating temperature range is generally -40~130℃.

3. Sponge tape

3.1 Conventional sponge tape

The conventional sponge tape for automobile wire beam is made of high density flame retardant sponge as the base material, after technical treatment, coated with special pressure sensitive adhesive, which is shock-proof, noise-reducing and easy to tear.

3.2 Polyurethane sponge tape

The base material is polyether polyol and binary, terpolymer isocyanate vinegar, the adhesive is polyacrylic acid vinegar pressure sensitive adhesive, the thickness is generally 2~5 mm, good sound insulation, sound absorption performance, shock absorption, noise reduction, and good water resistance, low temperature resistance, flame retardant performance, antibacterial, aging resistance, strong impact resistance, aging resistance, good elongation.

3.3 Flannel sponge tape

The base material of flannelette sponge tape is flannelette and sponge, and the adhesive is pressure sensitive adhesive. It has good shock absorption, noise reduction, heat insulation performance, and better wear resistance than ordinary sponge tape.

The main characteristics of wire harness for tape requirements

The tape used in the automobile wire harness, its temperature resistance, flame retardant, noise reduction, wire insulation compatibility, wear resistance, low fog, oil resistance, corrosion resistance and other characteristics are very important.

1. Temperature resistance: the low temperature resistance of the vehicle wire harness is -40℃, the main difference is that the high temperature resistance requirements are different, the ambient temperature of different locations on a car body is different, resulting in the high temperature resistance requirements of the guide tape in different locations, the high temperature resistance of the tape in the cabin is required to be 105~150℃, the cab is 85~105℃, the following is the specific analysis.

The wiring harness in the engine compartment, the ambient temperature in the engine compartment is the highest, in some specific locations, such as above the engine block, the maximum storage temperature can reach 135 ° C, the maximum storage temperature under the engine hood can also reach 95 ° C, so the closest place to the engine has high requirements for high temperature resistance of the tape. The tape used on the engine harness generally has two functions: the wire harness has no protective sleeve, and the tape plays the main protective role, and the high temperature resistance of the tape must reach 130 ° C at this time; The wire bundle has a protective sleeve, and the tape mainly plays the role of fixing the protective sleeve. In this case, the high temperature resistance of the tape must be above 105 ° C.

Indoor wiring harnesses, such as instrument panel wiring harnesses, indoor floor wiring harnesses, ceiling wiring harnesses, four-door wiring harnesses, these wiring harnesses are in the interior of the machine, and the high temperature resistance of the tape used in the wiring harnesses can meet the requirements when it reaches 85 ° C.

2. Flame retardant: Due to the different material of the tape, the flame retardant performance of the tape is also different, some are flame retardant, some are not flame retardant, and some are flame retardant, indoor wiring tape is best for flame retardant PVC tape.

3. Wear resistance: In the use of wire harness due to the rough surface and sharp edge may scratch the tape, resulting in the loss of insulation protection, binding, sealing and other properties, and even lead to some safety accidents, the tape used in these special locations must have high wear resistance.

4. Noise reduction: in the instrument panel wiring harness and four-door wiring harness, the wiring harness is installed with board gold or some hard materials, while some of the main lines or branches or even connectors on the wiring harness can not be completely fixed, and the wiring harness and hard materials will collide in the actual driving, and the noise generated by the collision will make the driver or passengers very uncomfortable. At this time, the tape used locally should have good noise reduction performance.

5, the compatibility of the insulation layer: commonly used tape adhesive system is generally acrylic, rubber, synthetic rubber, acrylic acid, polyacrylate pressure sensitive adhesive, etc., in the wiring binding process, there may be some phenomenon of poor compatibility, ordinary tape on halogen-free wire insulation layer compatibility is not very good, in the design must take this into account.

6. Low fog: the tape used on the indoor wiring harness must have low fog (volatility), if the low fog of the wiring harness tape does not meet the requirements, when the ambient temperature rises, the material and odor of the volatilization of the tape will produce olfactory and visual stimulation for indoor personnel, reduce the comfort of the driver and the passenger, enhance the fatigue of the driver, and increase the probability of safety accidents.

7. Oil resistance and corrosion resistance: the working environment of the engine compartment is very complex, acid, oil and other substances are a great threat to the wiring harness, complex working environment will reduce the performance and service life of the tape, so the tape used by the engine wiring harness and the engine room wiring harness must have high oil resistance and corrosion resistance.

Selection of automotive wire harness tape

The characteristic parameters of the tape are determined by the differences in the materials and production processes used by the tape itself, and the tapes with different characteristic parameters have different quality costs, that is, the price advantages of the tape are not the same. For example, the same specifications of different materials of tape, the high price of 4 to 10 yuan RMB/m, the low price of 0.04 yuan RMB/m, so the selection of tape must consider two aspects of factors: the performance of the tape to meet the requirements, rather than far more than the requirements; Try to use conventional tape, avoid using special tape, so as to meet the quality cost requirements.

1. Selection of tape for engine harness and engine room harness

Polyester tape is the preferred tape for engine wiring harness, but due to the relatively expensive price, it is recommended that it can only be used locally on the wiring harness, and then choose PVC tape with high temperature resistance of 135 ° C to meet the conventional requirements. The wiring harness in the cabin is generally made of PVC tape with a temperature resistance of 105 ~135 ° C, and the flanking tape or polyester cloth tape is used for special parts.

2. Selection of tape for table harness and four-door harness

The working environment of the instrument panel wiring harness and the four door wiring harness is relatively stable, and the wrapping or fixing of the wiring harness can meet the requirements by using ordinary PVC tape (high temperature resistance 85 ~105℃). When the wiring harness is too narrow, the splint is used on the wiring harness, and the conductor bundle is bent back at a large Angle, non-rubber lint tape and industrial plastic cloth can be selected locally. When there is direct contact between the wire harness and the hard material but the part of the wire harness cannot be completely fixed, the local use of velvet tape, wool polyester cloth tape, velvet felt tape, felt tape, sponge tape for buffering, shock absorption, sound absorption and noise reduction.

If the wiring harness plug-in (sheath) cannot be completely fixed when loading, sponge tape can be used outside the socket sheath for noise reduction.

In order to provide convenience for on-site loading, the four door wiring tape can choose different colors of tape for local winding, such as the left front door wiring harness using blue tape, the right front door wiring harness using green tape, the left and right rear door wiring harness using gray, silver and other tape to distinguish, to provide convenience for visual intuitions. When there are multiple configurations of the same model, different colors of tape can also be selected for local marking to distinguish, to provide convenience for visual management of the loading site, this method is not only applicable to the instrument, four door harness, but also applicable to other harness.

3. Selection of tape for floor wiring

The floor wiring harness is placed under the floor interior, the working environment is relatively stable, its requirements for tape is not very high, the use of ordinary high temperature resistance 85℃ PVC tape can fully meet the requirements, in the connection with the movable seat, the connection part needs to use some wet-resistant velvet tape for winding.

4. Selection of tape for ceiling wiring harness, air conditioning wiring harness and other small wires

The use of ordinary PVC tape with high temperature resistance of 85 ° C or 105 ° C, and the use of ordinary sponge tape can meet the requirements when noise reduction is needed.

5. Selection of ABS wire tape

Because the ABS system is a safety component, the working environment near its four wheel speed sensors is more complex, so the selection of tape generally choose flannel tape or polyester tape is a reasonable choice, if the ABS harness is not separated separately, you can choose PVC tape, flannel, polyester tape combined.

6. Selection of airbag harness and seat belt harness

Air bag harness and seat belt harness is a relatively special part, under normal circumstances, the tape used is yellow PVC tape with high temperature resistance of 85℃, the mark on the harness can choose ordinary white PVC tape.