Case Study: Sumitomo Electric Industries achieves longer-lasting cell‑phone cables with Dassault Systèmes SIMULIA (Abaqus)

Sumitomo Calls on SIMULIA for Answers to Cell Phone Cable Design Challenges

Sumitomo, an electronics wire specialist, faced rising cable breakage as cell phones grew thinner and more complex; they needed early, reliable lifetime estimates for tiny coaxial cables routed through hinged and sliding phone designs. To solve this, Sumitomo turned to Dassault Systemes’ SIMULIA solutions, using Abaqus Unified Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to simulate wire, coaxial cable and harness behavior under bending, twisting and extension.

Using Dassault Systemes’ Abaqus FEA, Sumitomo built models from single wires to full cable bundles and macro-beam harnesses, quantified strain‑amplitude vs. lifetime, and validated predictions with X‑ray imaging and physical fatigue tests (targeting >100,000 cycles). The simulations revealed failure modes from slide-induced meandering and guided a protective tape/thread‑hold design that kept cables aligned and significantly extended service life, with FEA results matching experimental cycle-life measurements.

Sumitomo

Shigeki Shimada

Analysis Technology Research Center