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Tag Archives: heat flux

Solar tower exposes materials to intense heat to test thermal response

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is using its solar tower to help assess the impact of extreme temperature changes on materials. The tests, now in their second year, take advantage of the ability of Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility to simulate a very rapid increase in temperature followed by an equally rapid decrease. […]

Sandia dial-a-fire test complex ignites huge blaze

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Though researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories Thermal Test Complex study a variety of fires, they focus on those that rotate rather than burn in place. Whirls generate much higher heat fluxes than non-rotational fires. Massive flames billow from a 16-foot-high test enclosure placed within Sandia National Laboratories’ Thermal Test Complex. Researchers […]