SOLICITATION NOTICE
14 -- Request for Information, Research and Development Centrifuge for Development and Evaluation of Fuzes Testing for Various Missile and Munitions Applications
- Notice Date
- 5/14/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 339111
— Laboratory Apparatus and Furniture Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- US Army Aviation and Missile Command (Missile), ATTN: AMSAM-AC, Building 5303, Martin Road, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5280
- ZIP Code
- 35898-5280
- Solicitation Number
- W31P4Q-T-07-9579
- Response Due
- 6/28/2007
- Archive Date
- 8/27/2007
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The US Army, Redstone, Arsenal, AL, is seeking domestic sources of information on technology that can be applied in the engineering, design, and continual development and evaluation of f uzes for various missile and munition applications. To prevent inadvertent or premature weapon initiation, these fuzes include components that prevent arming until certain criteria have been met. In addition to other physical phenomena, fuzes often use t he acceleration associated with the launch and flight of a weapon to make a decision to arm the weapon. A centrifuge allows the acceleration-sensing parts of the fuze to be tested in a controlled, laboratory environment, by simulating those launch and fli ght accelerations. For the purposes of testing fuzes or other test articles as desired, such a centrifuge should have at least the following characteristics: 1. It should accommodate different fuzes by means of an adapter plate using a standard bolt pattern. 2. It should accommodate test articles with maximum dimensions of 17 x 17 x 17 centimeters. 3. It should accommodate test articles with maximum mass of 2.5 kilograms (approximately 5.5 pounds). 4. It should provide for automatic load balancing by adjusting of the position of a counterweight. 5. The test fixture and all rotating parts should be completely enclosed, with the enclosure adequate to contain all fragments from a worst-case mishap where the fuze under test either breaks apart or the explosive materials in the fuze detonate (assume 10 .0 grams net explosive mass, TNT equivalent). 6. The centrifuge should provide for closed-loop control of acceleration at the center of mass of the test article ranging from zero to 260 revolutions per minute (rpm) in increments of one rpm with an accuracy of plus or minus 0.5 rpm. Higher maximum spi n ratings would be of interest. 7. Controls for the centrifuge settings must accommodate remote operation via a standard electrical interface (for example, EIA-RS-232, EIA-RS-422, EIA-RS-485, IEEE 802.3-Ethernet, IEEE-488-GPIB). As a minimum, the centrifuge controls should indicate cent rifuge spin rate in revolutions per second (rps). All local control readouts should be readable in daylight light intensity levels. 8. The centrifuge should meet all requirements while operating in ambient temperatures from 55 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and after storage in temperatures from 20 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, with relative humidity levels ranging from 20 to 95 percent. 9. The centrifuge should be powered from standard three-prong, 120 Vac, sixty-hertz, single-phase electrical outlet and should include built-in power conditioning and filtering, fail-safe circuit breaker protection (designed to trip when more than 15 amper es, root mean square, is drawn), and provisions for physical lockout/tagout procedures for maintenance/repair safety. A centrifuge requiring a higher voltage, but standard, single-phase circuit (e.g., 240 Vac) would be considered. 10. Maximum diameter of the centrifuge should be approximately 1.5 meters ( 5 feet) assuming roughly circular shape when viewed from above, with maximum height being roughly comparable, or less. 11. Access to the test fixture and rotating parts while the centrifuge is spinning should be prevented by the incorporation of hardware-based interlocks, the opening of which should result in immediate but graceful braking of the test fixture and rotating parts to a complete stop in less than one second. Options for braking (fast braking, slow braking, or no braking) may be useful. Similar provisions shall be included to automatically bring the centrifuge to safe condition in the event of facility electrical power outage or undervoltage condition. A panic button on the front of the centrifuge should provide a similar emergency shutdown function. The panic button should have appropriate mechanical guard on it to keep it from being i nadvertently actuated during normal loading; unloading; inspection operations, but should not preclude its immediate actuation when needed. 12. The centrifuge should provide automatic indication of, unbalanced, conditions that would lead to excessive wear of the rotating or drive elements or that would cause a safety hazard to the operator. ,Severe, unbalanced conditions should result in auto matic graceful braking of the centrifuge to a complete stop. 13. The centrifuge should include a safety plug or key that the operator would remove from the control panel during loading, unloading, and inspection operations. The centrifuge drive circuits should be incapable of being energized while plug or key is ou t of the control panel. 14. The centrifuge controls should include a power-up reset and power-on self-test (POST) capability as well as a calibration routine using a standard test mass. 15. As an option for consideration, the centrifuge should allow for installation of a ,spinner, mechanism onto the test fixture, the purpose of which is to simulate the rolling motion of a missile, rocket, or projectile in flight. The spinner should spin the test article clockwise or counterclockwise, as desired, about the axis intersecting the center of rotation of the centrifuge. Spin rate should be controlled in increments of 0.1 revolutions per second (rps) over a range of zero to fifteen rps for cloc kwise or counterclockwise direction, as desired. The use of the spinner will be restricted to small, less massive test articles with maximum dimensions of 8 x 8 x 8 centimeters and maximum mass of 0.7 kilograms (approximately 1.5 lbs). Operation of the s pinner should be independent of the centrifuge. Safety interlocks described earlier would also apply to the spinner. 16. It is a desirable objective that the centrifuge and the spinner be controlled with either pre-set or event-driven profiles via standard computer interface for higher fidelity to launch and flight environments. Compatibility with National Instruments L abVIEW? version 8 or later is preferred. 17. The centrifuge should provide for slip-ring or other mechanism to provide reliable electrical connections between the fuze under test and external instrumentation. A minimum of sixteen connections is desired, with the internal cabling of each connecti on being shielded, and with an option to connect the shield to the fuze under test. All connectors should be of standard type commonly used in electrical instrumentation (for example, BNC, banana jack, or terminal strip) and should not require special too ls or fasteners to use. Each connection should be electrically isolated from the other. 18. It is a desirable objective that the centrifuge include a camera and associated lighting that would provide for local and/or remote viewing of the inside of the centrifuge. If the camera cannot be emplaced on the rotating arm of the centrifuge, a stro boscopic system could be used to present the operator with a ,stationary, view of the fuze under test. Other suitable methods for visually monitoring the article under test, including the ability to record onto standard video tape or standard digital medi a, would be of interest. 19. All metallic structures in the centrifuge that the operator could come into contact with under regular use conditions should be bonded to ,earth, ground through a resistance with a minimum value of 25 kilohms, maximum value of one megohm, in accordance with Department of the Army Pamphlet (DA PAM 385-64) to preclude electrostatic discharge hazards. 20. The base of the centrifuge should have provisions for mounting to a flat concrete floor using standard bolts, and should include a means for leveling the centrifuge and securely locking it into leveled position, using standard, commonly available tools. 21. The centrifuge should be constructed to allow safe cleanup and removal of debris, fragments, and dust from articles under test. 22. The centrifuge should have provisions for the attachment of an externally driven vent system to exhaust residual vapors from the test article. 23. The centrifuge should be constructed using industry standard, commonly available, and/or easily fabricated parts, and in a modular fashion to simplify maintenance and repair. 24. All parts of the centrifuge that are toggled, adjusted, or otherwise actuated or moved as part of the normal operational sequence should be designed for long wear life and should degrade gracefully, with indications of need for replacement well in adva nce of failure. As a minimum, all motor brushes should be of a standard, easily-obtained (commercial, off-the-shelf,) type and designed for ease of replacement. Centrifuge designs that do not quite meet these requirements may still be of interest if there is a potential decrease in cost or delivery time, or if there is a potential increase in reliability, safety, or performance. Any Product Model numbers that mee t most of the requirements stated in paragraphs above are of interest and should be submitted. Information on available, emerging, or needed technologies and how these technologies could be applied to this project should also be included. Of additional i nterest are the internal technical capabilities of the interested party in the above described activity. Aspects of the design that are proprietary or have usage restrictions such as licensing requirements or restrictions on modifications or operator servicing should be clearly identified. All information submitted shall be treated as confidential and will n ot be released outside the Government. All submissions must be clearly marked with the following caption: Releasable to Government Agencies for Evaluation Purposes Only. The Government reserves the right to request further clarification or request pres entations to enhance the Governments understanding of the respondents submittal. RFI responses will be accepted from United States companies and organizations only. Interested and capable sources are asked to submit five (5) written hardcopy white paper responses, to be received no later than 1700 hours (CST), 28 June, 2007, using standard font, such as Times New Roman, size 12 pt, with one inch margins, and containin g a description of appropriate suggestions. Any diagrams included should be 10 pt or less. Total number of pages for white paper responses should be limited to 30 pages. If necessary, 36 pages will be accepted. All information must be submitted in writ ing. Whitepapers that fail to comply with the above instructions, or present ideas not pertinent to subject, may not be reviewed If electronic media is included with written copies, it shall be compatible with Microsoft Word 2003?, Rich Text Format (RTF), or Adobe Portable Document Format? (PDF), containing a description of appropriate technologies that respondent possesses, or are developing, and how those technologies could be applied to this project. Drawings, sketches, or other graphics not embedded in the electronic white paper shall be in Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), with the resolution set so that graphical features and text labels are legible at 600 dots per inch (dpi) or higher printout resolution. The electronic white paper and associated graphics, if any, shall be submitted on standard compact disk (CD) or Digital Video Disk (DVD), along with hardcopy written white papers. Responses to this request for information must be in writing and may NOT be submitted via facsimile, email, electronic means, or direction to website or file transfer protocol (FTP) server; any so sent will be disr egarded. Telephone requests for additional information will not be honored. Questions that are technical in nature will be referred to the technical representative upon request. RFI responses are to be received within forty five (45) days from publication of this notice, or no later than 1700 hours (CST), 28 June, 2007. You may send five (5) copies of written responses to the attention of US Army Aviation and Missile Command, AMS AM-AC-RD-RB, Bldg 5400, Redstone Arsenal, AL, 35898-5280, ATTN: Ms. Ruth Woodham or via the following e-mail address: ruth.a.woodham@us.army.mil. Acknowledgement of receipt will be issued if request for return receipt is included with response. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations paragraph 15.201 (e.), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This does not constitute an Invitation for Bids or a Request for Proposa l, and is not a commitment by the US Army to procure products or services. No award is intended as a result of this RFI. Information submitted in response to this RFI is submitted at no cost to the Government and will not be returned.
- Place of Performance
- Address: US Army Aviation and Missile Command (Missile) ATTN: AMSAM-AC, Building 5303, Martin Road Redstone Arsenal AL
- Zip Code: 35898-5280
- Country: US
- Zip Code: 35898-5280
- Record
- SN01294234-W 20070516/070514221355 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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