Straight answers on vibration testing, electrodynamic shaker service, lab installation, and federal teaming. If your question is not here, call 505-349-3645 or start a conversation.
KC Service & Consulting (KCSC) is an independent structural dynamics and vibration test engineering consultancy based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, serving clients nationally. KCSC provides vibration test planning and execution, MIMO and 6-DOF test methods, data acquisition and analysis, modal testing, electrodynamic shaker service, and vibration test facility commissioning. KCSC is Kevin Cross, a vibration test subject matter expert with more than 20 years of hands-on experience.
Kevin Cross is the founder and principal engineer of KC Service & Consulting. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University and has more than 20 years of hands-on experience across electrodynamic shaker systems, power amplifiers, slip tables, and control systems. Before founding KCSC, he spent his career on the operational side of large vibration test programs at a national laboratory, at the principal-engineer level. He is a published author and presenter at the International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC).
KCSC is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and serves clients nationally. On-site work is available anywhere in the United States, and remote consulting, test planning, and analysis support is available regardless of location.
MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) vibration testing drives a test article with multiple shakers simultaneously and controls multiple response locations at once. Compared with traditional single-axis testing, MIMO reproduces a much more realistic representation of the vibration environment a unit experiences in service, and it can significantly reduce total test time by exciting multiple axes together. KCSC has developed and run MIMO test campaigns on real programs.
6-DOF (Six Degree of Freedom) vibration testing excites a test article in all six rigid-body degrees of freedom — three translational axes and three rotational axes — simultaneously. This produces a more realistic, fully three-dimensional vibration environment than sequential single-axis testing. It is a thin-supply specialty that requires coordinated multi-shaker drive and control, which KCSC provides.
Multi-axis MIMO and 6-DOF methods are the right choice when a single-axis test does not adequately represent the real service environment, when cross-axis coupling matters to the result, or when reducing total test time across multiple axes is important. They give a more realistic, defensible dataset for high-consequence hardware. KCSC can help determine whether a multi-axis approach is warranted for your test article and requirements.
KCSC supports random, sine, and sine-on-random vibration, resonance search and dwell, shock and transient methods, MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output), and 6-DOF (Six Degree of Freedom) testing. Combined-environment testing — vibration applied together with thermal, acoustic, pyroshock, or EMI — is also supported. The work runs the full chain from test design and profile development through data acquisition, execution, analysis, and reporting.
A KCSC preventative maintenance visit includes bearing and suspension evaluation, slip table inspection and service, amplifier cleaning and performance check, heat exchanger, filter, and cooling service, and a full system health report. The goal is to keep an electrodynamic shaker system performing reliably under heavy duty cycles and to surface wear before it causes downtime.
KCSC is factory trained and authorized to service Unholtz-Dickie vibration test equipment and uses brand-new OEM replacement parts on every Unholtz-Dickie job, never aftermarket parts. Kevin Cross also has more than 20 years of hands-on experience across multiple shaker manufacturers, power amplifiers, slip tables, and control systems, and can evaluate and advise on other equipment. Contact KCSC to discuss your specific system.
Yes. KCSC provides new system startup and commissioning, including complete system inspection and configuration, cooling and safety system verification, performance tuning and baseline testing, and operator training, so a new electrodynamic shaker system performs correctly from day one.
KCSC brings operational experience to vibration test facility design before the equipment is set: operational workflow and equipment placement, utility sizing against real loads, noise and vibration isolation, installation oversight and commissioning, and hazardous or remote operations design. The cheapest time to get a vibration lab right is before it is built.
Yes. KCSC is a registered small business in SAM.gov and can be written onto a federal contract team, a subcontract, or a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) proposal as a structural dynamics and vibration test subject matter expert. KCSC works as a subcontractor or teammate, not as a prime on capital-intensive test-execution awards.
KCSC is a registered small business in SAM.gov with NAICS codes 541330, 541380, 541715, and 811310, and PSC families R425, H-family, and AR/AC R&D. KCSC holds no socioeconomic set-aside certifications. A capability statement is available for download on the Government and Teaming page.
Every engagement starts with a conversation. Describe the test, the equipment, or the program through the contact form, or call 505-349-3645 for urgent service. KCSC will tell you honestly where it can add value.
Tell KCSC about the test, the equipment, or the program, and we will get you a straight answer.