ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An early milestone for developing missile technologies is to show they can work in computer-simulations or large-scale field tests that shake and spin components without falling to pieces. “Screws can back out; things can break,” said Greg Tipton, a structural dynamics engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. Similar tests are performed in the […]
Tag Archives: large-scale testing
High-speed experiments improve hypersonic flight predictions
May 2, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When traveling at five times the speed of sound or faster, the tiniest bit of turbulence is more than a bump in the road, said the Sandia National Laboratories aerospace engineer who for the first time characterized the vibrational effect of the pressure field beneath one of these tiny hypersonic turbulent spots. […]
Wind tunnel and lasers provide hypersonic proving ground at Sandia National Laboratories
November 7, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s about speed, and Sandia National Laboratories, with a hypersonic wind tunnel and advanced laser diagnostic technology, is in an excellent position to help U.S. defense agencies understand the physics associated with aircraft flying five times the speed of sound. With potential adversaries reporting successes in their own programs to develop aircraft […]
Drop of mock B61-12 is first of new flight tests
April 13, 2017 – 2:39 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — From a distance, the drop of a mock nuclear weapon — containing only non-nuclear components — was a mere puff of dust rising from a dry lake bed at Nevada’s Tonopah Test Range. However, it marked the start of a new series of test flights vital to the nation’s B61-12 weapon refurbishment […]
Sled track simulates high-speed accident in B61-12 test
October 5, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories has sent a mock B61-12 nuclear weapon speeding down the labs’ 10,000-foot rocket sled track to slam nose-first into a steel and concrete wall in a spectacular test that mimicked a high-speed accident. It allowed engineers to examine safety features inside the weapon that prevent inadvertent nuclear detonation. Data […]
Sandia completes major overhaul of key nuclear weapons test facilities
May 8, 2014 – 3:30 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories recently completed the renovation of five large-scale test facilities that are crucial to ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons systems. The work supports Sandia’s ongoing nuclear stockpile modernization work on the B61-12 and W88 Alt, assessments of current stockpile systems and test and analysis for […]
Sandia conducts first impact test in years of B61 nonnuclear components
January 14, 2014 – 10:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A ground-penetrating bomb, minus its nuclear components, rammed through a target at the remote Coyote Canyon test range last month in Sandia National Laboratories’ first such rocket-driven impact test in seven years. Engineers said the Sandia components on the weapon performed as expected. “Really nice work,” said Engineering Sciences Director Justine Johannes, […]