Watch a hazardous container drop test in slow motion from the 185-foot Drop Tower Facility at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The facility provides a controlled environment for testing a wide variety of small and large test items. This facility can test items which:
• Contain radioactive materials
• Contain high explosives
• Are classified to Top Secret
Routine tests include shipping container certification, simulated transportation accidents, and moderate velocity impact. Tests units can be temperature-conditioned from temperatures of -65°C to 100°C. Test impact targets include dirt, reinforced concrete (5 1/2 feet by 12 feet by 5 1/2 feet thick), steel plate (5 1/2 feet by 12 feet by 4 inches thick), or other customer-specified targets. Crush tests also are routinely conducted by dropping a steel mass onto a test item positioned on the target. In a similar manner, puncture tests are conducted by dropping a test item onto a spike in the target.
This facility can provide high-speed (5MHz s/s) digital data acquisition on up to 64 channels of hardwired instrumentation. A higher number of instrumentation data channels can be arranged. Transducers to measure acceleration, pressure, temperature, and strain are most often used.
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