R&D Contracting Office, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607

A -- THERMAL COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT SOL PRDA 96-03-FIK POC Kevin Cox, Contract Negotiator, WL/FIK, (513) 255-4427; Kathy Walston, Contracting Officer, WL/FIK, (513) 255-4427. A--INTRODUCTION: Wright Laboratory (WL/FIVE) is interested in receiving proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described below. Proposals in response to this PRDA shall be submitted by 16 February 1996, 1500 hours Eastern Time, addressed to Wright Laboratory, Directorate of R&D Contracting, WL/FIK, Building 7, Area B, Attn: Mr. Kevin Cox, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7607. (1) This is an unrestricted solicitation. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all or any part of this solicitation. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this announcement. Proposals submitted after the cutoff date specified herein shall be treated with restrictions of FAR 52.215-10. A copy of this provision may be obtained from the contracting point of contact. There will be no other solicitation issued in regard to this requirement. Offerors should be alert for any PRDA amendments that may permit subsequent submission of proposal dates. Offerors should request a copy of the WL guide entitled ''PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry.'' This guide was specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the PRDA/BAA proposal process. Copies may be requested from WL/FIK, Mr. Cox, (513) 255-4427. B--REQUIREMENTS: (1) Technical Description: The objective of this effort is to reduce the fixed weight and volume of critical aircraft thermal management components in high performance air vehicles. Since heat exchangers make up nearly half the weight of an advanced aircraft's thermal management system, reduction in heat exchanger weight is critical to reducing system weight. Recent advances in carbon/carbon composite technology afford an opportunity to make significant reductions in heat exchanger weight when compared to traditional heat exchanger materials. The focus of this effort will be an aggressive development of lightweight carbon/carbon composite heat exchangers. This effort will research, design, and develop carbon/carbon heat exchanger technology suitable for use in existing and next generation aircraft thermal management systems. The offeror shall propose research for the following topics: Material Characteriation, Thermal Performance and Weight Analysis, Heat Exchanger Design, Lightweight, Full Scale Heat Exchanger Fabrication, and Fundamental Laboratory Experiments on a Full Scale Heat Exchanger. The effort shall be proposed in five tasks corresponding to the above topics. Task one is intended to research the basic material characteristics of carbon/carbon materials suitable for aircraft heat exchangers. The offeror shall select an available fiber and matrix material and process relevant to a carbon/carbon composite heat exchanger design. The offeror shall measure the conductance and thermal expansion in all three relevant directions or any other relevant direction. The offeror shall measure heat transfer rates and select high heat transfer rates per material density and rate the material verses processing cost. The mechanical properties shall be obtained for the strength characteristics in any applicable direction and for heat exchanger plate stress and related material density. Materials shall be obtained with characteristics for minimum permeability of gases and liquids. The material shall be stable and corrosion resistant to the environment. Heat transfer degradation shall be estimated for oxidation or sealing protection of the material. Task two is intended to evaluate the thermal performance and weight savings associated with carbon/carbon heat exchanger concepts. The offeror shall perform a thermal/ performance analysis of carbon/carbon heat exchangers for various aircraft applications. Heat transfer rates, heat exchanger effectiveness and strength and stress levels shall be determined. The offeror shall define the weight and volume impact for various aircraft heat exchanger applications. The weight savings goals are 40% for aluminum heat exchanger applications and 60% for stainless steel or inconel/nickel heat exchanger applications. Task three is intended to develop a carbon/carbon heat exchanger design. Considering the thermal and performance analysis, the offeror shall select a potential application and design a carbon/carbon heat exchanger(s). The application shall be selected based on the factors of highest weight savings, lowest cost, and shortest processing time for the material. The offeror shall propose innovative new design approaches since the carbon/carbon composites are radically different from common heat exchanger materials. This could include the following: non-conventonal stacking techniques, unique bonding and joining techniques, and unconventional flow paths. The contractor shall estimate the life cycle cost, reliability, and durability factors for the design. The offeror shall identify oxidation protection methods and analyze coating protection. Task four is intended to fabricate a carbon/carbon, full scale prototype heat exchanger(s). The offeror shall fabricate a lightweight, full scale heat exchanger(s) based on the application and design. Task five is intended to perform fundamental laboratory experiments on the full scale heat exchanger(s). The offeror shall determine and define fundamental laboratory tests required to demonstrate the heat exchanger design. The tests shall be designed to determine heat exchanger performance, thermal characteristic parameters, and the system weight savings. The contractor shall develop a test plan and perform the necessary tests. (2) Deliverable Items: The following deliverable data items shall be proposed: (a) Status Report, DI-MGMT-80368/T, bimonthly, (b) Contract Funds Status Report (CFSR), DI-F-6004B/T, quarterly, (c) Project Planning Chart, DI-MGMT-80507A/T, monthly, (d) Presentation Material, DI-ADMN-81373/T, as required, (e) Funds and Manhours Expenditure Report, DI-FNCL-80331/T, monthly, (f) Scientific and Technical Reports, DI-MISC-80711/T, (Draft and Reproducible Final), and (g) Scientific and Technical Reports, DI-MISC-80711/T, (Contractor's Billing Voucher), monthly. (3) Security Requirements: It is not anticipated that work performed under this contract will involve classified information. (4) Other Special Requirements: International Trade in Arms restrictions apply. C--ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (1) Anticipated Period of Performance: The total length of the technical effort is estimated to be 38 months. The contractor shall also provide for an additional 4 months for processing/completion of the final report. (2) Expected Award Date: July 1996. (3) Government Estimate: The government anticipates an approximate contract award of $1,210,000.00. Estimated funding profile by fiscal year (FY): $90,000.00 in FY96, $370,000.00 in FY97, $400,000.00 in FY98, and $350,000.00 in FY99. This funding profile is an estimate only and is not a promise for funding as all funding is subject to change due to government discretion and availability. (4) Type of Contract: Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or Cost(no fee). Any grantsawarded will be cost (no fee). (5) Government Furnished Equipment/Base Support: It is the offeror's responsibility to identify and arrange for use of any equipment, be it contractor-owned and furnished or government-owned and furnished. (6) Size Status: For the purpose of this acquisition, the size standard is 500 employees (SIC 8731). (7) Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the Air Force point of contact cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that restrictions may apply which could preclude their participation in this acquisition. (8) An associate contractor agreement is anticipated between this PRDA and the PRDA titled ''Economical Carbon-Carbon'', where generated data shall be exchanged only between awardees. (9) The offeror shall identify any proprietary data issues that will arise as a result of the proposed effort. D--PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: (1) General Instructions: Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision at FAR 52.215-12, Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data, to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in the WL PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry referenced in Section A of this announcement. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and must be valid for 180 days. Proposals must reference the above PRDA number. Proposals shall be submitted in an original and six copies. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the government. (2) Cost Proposal: The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be supplied on an SF 1411 separated by phases, together with supporting schedules, and shall contain a person-hour breakdown per task. Copies of the above-referenced forms may be obtained from the contracting office cited. (3) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. Additional information on prior work in this area, descriptions of available equipmet, data and facilities, and resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort should also be included as attachments to the technical proposal and are not included in the page limit. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) which details the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort and is suitable for contract incorporation. Offerors should refer to the WL Guide referenced in Section A to assist on SOW preparation. PL 98-94 applies. Offerors must submit approved DD Form 2345, Export-Controlled DOD Technical Data Agreement, with their proposal. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation shall be referred to the technical point of contact cited in this announcement. (4) Page Limitations: The technical proposal shall be limited to 100 pages or less (12 pitch or larger type), double- spaced, single-sided, 8.5 by 11 inches. The page limitation includes all information, i.e., indexes, photographs, fold-outs, appendices, attachments, etc. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered by the government. Cost proposals have no limitation, however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals to 75 pages as a goal. (5) Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the government to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting or any other contract. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. E--BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of a source(s) for contract award will be based on an evaluation of the offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority, shall be evaluated based upon the following criteria which are of equal importance: (a) the innovation and creativity of the proposed solution, (b) the offeror's understanding of the research required, and specific potential approaches necessary to successfully research and demonstrate carbon/carbon heat exchanger technology as documented in the proposal (c) the soundness of offeror's technical approach, (d) the offeror's past experience in heat transfer research, specifically in aircraft thermal management systems as documentd in the proposal, (e) the offeror's ability to assemble the technical authorities required to lead this effort as documented in the proposal, (f) organization, clarity, and thoroughness of the proposed statement of work. Cost, which includes consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles, is ranked as the second order of priority. No other evaluation criteria will be used. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award of a contract, grant or cooperative agreement any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. Award of a grant to universities or nonprofit institutions or cooperative agreements, in lieu of a contract, will be considered and will be subject to the mutual agreement of the parties. F--POINTS OF CONTACT: (1) Technical Contact Point: Mr. Roland J. Watts, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base OH, 45433-7542, (513) 255-6078. (2) Contracting/Cost Point of Contact: Questions related to contract/cost issues should be directed to the Wright Laboratory, Directorate of Research and Development Contracting, Mr. Kevin Cox, (513) 255-4427, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433-7607. (0004)

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