Validation and Qualification Sciences Experimental Complex

RST

Impact site preparation for forward ballistic testing at 10k Rocket Sled Track

Drop Tower

Preparing for a test at the Drop Tower

ACF

Preparing to roll a test unit at the Aerial Cable Facility

ACF

Preparing to lift a test unit at the ACF

ACF

Installing rocket sled temperature conditioning equipment at ACF

Burn Site

An open burn at the Burn Site

Mech Shock

Test setup for a high-speed gas gun test crushing a test object inside a target structure with high-speed video support

Mech Shock

Hole left in an aluminum honeycomb section after a projectile was fired through the material

Burn Site

Crude oil characterization fireball testing at the Burn Site

Centrifuge

Aerial view of the Centrifuge Complex

VQSEC Overview

The Validation and Qualification Sciences Experimental Complex (VQSEC) at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico is a unique group of experimental and computational capabilities that create and/or simulate a broad range of extreme operational or abnormal environments.

Large-Scale Testing

Our talented staff have been delivering 50 years of test system design and execution by providing integration of precision tools to evaluate response at any scale, for a breadth of extreme thermal and mechanical environments.

Fire Computations Analysis

Fire Computational Analysis

Model simulation and test integration are essential because computational analyses provide partial physics that are fully exposed, while testing provides full physics that are partially exposed.

Photometrics

Photometrics & Instrumentation

Our Photometrics group has provided cutting-edge imaging and measurement data for over half a century. The products that we produce not only help scientists and engineers better understand the dynamics of the tests and how models and data correlate, but they also help our customers communicate their success in the work they do.

Package Certification

We provide specialized solutions within the nuclear complex for normal and abnormal mechanical and thermal environments for transportation and storage container packaging designers, analysts, and certification engineers.