ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two groups of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have published papers on the droplets of liquid sprayed by coughs or sneezes and how far they can travel under different conditions. Both teams used Sandia’s decades of experience with advanced computer simulations studying how liquids and gases move for its nuclear stockpile stewardship […]
Tag Archives: computer modeling and simulation
Finding fire and ice: Modeling the probability of methane hydrate deposits on the seafloor
March 17, 2021 – 5:00 am
RALEIGH, N.C. — Methane hydrate, an ice-like material made of compressed natural gas, burns when lit and can be found in some regions of the seafloor and in Arctic permafrost. Thought to be the world’s largest source of natural gas, methane hydrate is a potential fuel source, and if it “melts” and methane gas is […]
Thin explosive films provide snapshot of how detonations start
March 4, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Using thin films — no more than a few pieces of notebook paper thick — of a common explosive chemical, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories studied how small-scale explosions start and grow. Sandia is the only lab in the U.S. that can make such detonatable thin films. These experiments advanced fundamental knowledge […]
Modeling terrorist behavior with Sandia social-cultural assessments
January 24, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Part of what makes terrorists so frightening is their penchant for unpredictable, indiscriminate violence. One day they could attack a global financial center. And the next they could hit a neighborhood bike path. A team of Sandia social-behavioral scientists and computational modelers recently completed a two-year effort, dubbed “Mustang,” to assess interactions […]
International corrosion society elects first Sandia fellow
June 4, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A decade ago, while studying potential corrosion of containers for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, Sandia National Laboratories materials scientist David Enos designed an intricate solution to a sticky problem. Computer simulations showed the likelihood of unusually high heat and humidity deep inside the repository. Temperatures would rise […]
Using biomimicry to detect outbreaks faster
April 9, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Our immune systems are made up of billions of white blood cells searching for signs of infections and foreign invaders, ready to raise the alarm. Sandia National Laboratories computer scientists Pat Finley and Drew Levin have been working to improve the U.S. biosurveillance system that alerts authorities to disease outbreaks by mimicking […]
Blast, impact simulations could lead to better understanding of injuries and body armor
January 23, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is developing specialized computer modeling and simulation methods to better understand how blasts on a battlefield could lead to traumatic brain injury and injuries to vital organs, like the heart and lungs. Researchers at Sandia have studied the mechanisms behind traumatic brain injury for about a decade. Their traumatic […]
Sandia computer modeling aids solder reliability in nuclear weapons
December 19, 2017 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Solder isn’t the first thing that comes to mind as essential to a nuclear weapon. But since weapons contain hundreds of thousands of solder joints, each potentially a point of failure, Sandia National Laboratories has developed and refined computer models to predict their performance and reliability. “Computational modeling of solder joint fatigue […]
Infrastructure optimization tool from Sandia helps design future bases
November 6, 2017 – 7:30 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Where do you get your water? How do you generate electricity to cook your food and keep it fresh? What happens to your waste after you toss it or flush it? For soldiers overseas, the answers to questions about basic facilities and services are vital. Since 2013, Sandia National Laboratories has been […]
Sandia honored for fighting Ebola, analyzing emerging biotechnologies
April 20, 2017 – 8:35 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The work of Sandia National Laboratories at the intersection of biology and national security, including lifesaving efforts during the 2014 Ebola epidemic, has been recognized by the Department of Energy. On April 11, Dmitri Kusnezov, chief scientist and senior adviser to the secretary of energy, visited Sandia to honor nearly 60 Sandians […]
Research at Sandia looking at how brittle materials fail
February 13, 2017 – 1:45 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If you want to see what happens if your phone falls onto concrete, you can actually drop it or let an engineer work out the consequences in advance. Odds are you’ll go with the engineer. Figuring out how brittle materials inside a device behave, and fail, is one goal of Sandia National […]
Techniques could create better material, design in high-consequence uses
September 23, 2015 – 1:00 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Imagine a table with sinuous legs resembling the twisting shape of an inverted swamp cypress trunk. Those flowing legs might make the table stronger, better able to handle whatever someone piles on it. Sandia National Laboratories researchers believe such organically shaped designs, achieved through a technology called topology optimization, could enable better […]