The Thermal Test Complex (TTC) is an international resource for validation of fire physics models as well as the nuclear weapons complex hardware qualification facility for fires. Experimental fire research, validated modeling tools, and phenomenological model development capabilities form the basis of an integrated capability to solve high-consequence problems in fire prevention, fire consequence analysis, and fire mitigation. Sandia’s Energy and Homeland Security teams use the TTC to evaluate hydrocarbon liquid, combustible solids, and propellant fires.
The TTC serves two functions: to evaluate the thermal loads from fire environments and the multi-physics response of hardware subject to fires. The facility has been designed to study quiescent large-scale combustion events as well as to assess the effect of wind driven fires. Fires include hydrocarbon liquid, combustible solids, and propellant fires.