SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Thermo-Mechanical Stress Design Optimization in Optical Coatings - Request For Information (RFI)
- Notice Date
- 3/31/2016
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL/RQK - WPAFB, AFRL/RQK, 2130 Eighth Street, Building 45, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 45433, United States
- ZIP Code
- 45433
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-AFRL-RQKM-2016-0013
- Archive Date
- 5/31/2016
- Point of Contact
- Brian J. Kilpatrick, Phone: (937) 713-9883, Mark Merrifield, Phone: (937) 713-9878
- E-Mail Address
-
brian.kilpatrick.5@us.af.mil, mark.merrifield@us.af.mil
(brian.kilpatrick.5@us.af.mil, mark.merrifield@us.af.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request For Information Performance of optical elements in Air Force state-of-the-art systems is often limited by the optical coatings that can be applied versus the inherent properties of the component optical materials composing the system. The abilities and life-cycle of these coatings are limited by the thermo-mechanical stresses that appear during manufacturing, storage, and operational use. The combination of low volume production and high performance requirements limits the value of iterative designs coupled with physical production runs and testing. The Air Force Research Laboratory Material's & Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RX) aspires to improve manufacturing yields, system performance and system life cycle costs through an improved understanding of the transient and permanent thermo-mechanical stresses inherent in a coating design based on the production, storage, and operational use attributes during the design cycle. AFRL/RX believes an ICMSE approach with enhanced design tools can meet this goal. The core objective of this ICMSE approach is the integration of standard verified and validated thermo-mechanical stress algorithms with one or more optimization engines assimilated into company specific design and manufacturing processes. The result should include demonstration of improved optical performance and system life-cycle costs for one or more demonstration systems. The responses to this RFI should include the ability and value of such a tool suite to meet the intent as well as its practicality as a commercial software module or tool. The key technical challenges associated with developing validated design tools to enable more reliable and enhanced operation would be 1) having appropriate data available for the material systems and manufacturing methods of interest to model and validate overall coating design, 2) the existence of a capability to measure relevant thermomechanical properties in relation to manufacturing process parameters, 3) validation of optimization by design execution and testing, and 4) integration of optimization capabilities with optical and mechanical design and simulation tools. The initiative is expected to have numerous outcomes toward advancing the ICMSE design and analysis paradigm for optical coatings. These outcomes include: Strengthening the ICMSE competency within the Air Force materials and sensors base communities Developing cross-functional computational tools that include optical, mechanical and thermal considerations in a framework that supports optimization Demonstrating a digital framework linking processing/property/structure relationships for integrated material design that translates to device architecture to account for manufacturability, performance, reliability, and sustainability Demonstrating that reduced cost and development time can be delivered using ICMSE tools on high return on investment (ROI) components Identifying precompetitive research/infrastructure needs for enabling improved optical coatings.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLWRS/RFI-AFRL-RQKM-2016-0013/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor's Facility, United States
- Record
- SN04069450-W 20160402/160331235449-fcb35ac0b36522f38bcb9b3b67fe036b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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