SOURCES SOUGHT
C -- WIND TUNNEL TESTING SERVICES
- Notice Date
- 6/21/2018
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B130, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1410, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20899-1410
- Solicitation Number
- AMD-SS18-WINDTUNNELTEST
- Archive Date
- 7/13/2018
- Point of Contact
- Lynda M Horton, Phone: 3019753725, Keith Bubar, Phone: 3019758329
- E-Mail Address
-
Lynda.Horton@nist.gov, keith.bubar@nist.gov
(Lynda.Horton@nist.gov, keith.bubar@nist.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- INTRODUCTION This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified business sources. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services), as those domestic sources having annual revenue of $15 million or less. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. NOTE: This notice is strictly for obtaining Market Research. There will be no Question & Answer period under this Sources Sought Notice. Background/Mission: The U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will study the impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, focusing specifically on the performance of critical buildings and their dependence on distributed infrastructure (such as electricity and water), as well as emergency communications and the public's response to those communications. Under the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act, signed into law in 2002, NIST is authorized to establish teams to investigate building failures that have resulted in substantial loss of life or that posed the potential for substantial loss of life. Based on a preliminary reconnaissance to Puerto Rico in December 2017, the NIST Director authorized the NCST investigation to determine: • the characteristics of the storm hazards-the pattern, location and cause of injuries and fatalities; • the performance of emergency communications systems and the public's response to such communications; and • the performance of representative critical buildings and designated safe areas in those buildings, including their dependence on infrastructure such as electricity and water. Additional background information on NIST's planned efforts on Hurricane Maria is available at: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2018/05/nist-launches-study-hurricane-marias-impact-puerto-rico. Anticipated activities related to characterization of the hurricane hazards are described in a presentation at: https://www.nist.gov/file/451966. Anticipated activities related to evaluating the performance of critical buildings are described in a presentation at: https://www.nist.gov/file/451976. Scope of Requirement: NIST is seeking information from all sources capable of providing wind tunnel testing services and full-scale field measurements of wind speeds to support the NCST study of Hurricane Maria's impact on Puerto Rico. The principle goal of this requirement is characterizing the influence of topography on wind speeds in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria and the resulting effects on buildings. Specific Requirements: One requirement is for the Contractor to perform wind tunnel testing of topographic effects on wind speeds in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria. Because this requirement supports other aspects of the study, which involving modeling of the hurricane windfield, the topographic wind tunnel testing will need to commence within three weeks of an award of the contract. Activities related to this goal may include but are not limited to: 1. Construction of approximately 11 topographic models at 1:5000 scale, representing circular regions of Puerto Rico with a diameter of 20 km, and up to six additional topographic models at 1:1000 scale, representing circular regions with a diameter of 4 km, using appropriate model construction techniques (e.g., terracing, surface roughening) to artificially increase the Reynolds number and more accurately capture full-scale flow characteristics. 2. Performing wind tunnel testing of turntable-mounted topographic models for a range of wind directions, with appropriate representation of boundary layer approach flow conditions over open water or surrounding terrain. 3. Measurement of the flow field at a grid of approximately 100 locations over the surface of the topographic models using three Turbulent Flow Instrumentation Cobra Probes mounted at different heights to a gantry system, with sampling frequencies up to 2000 Hz and synchronized data acquisition for the three probes, to quantify spatial correlation. 4. For selected topographic models, using a gantry-mounted Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system to measure three components of velocity in a planar region over the surface of the topographic models, and using the gantry to traverse the PIV system across the topographic models to measure the 3D velocity field in the volume above each model. PIV measurements require a field of view of approximately 30 cm by 60 cm, with an image resolution of 4 megapixels and a sampling rate of up to 800 frames per second. 5. For selected 1:1000 scale topographic models, performing wind tunnel tests with site-specific non-stationary time histories of wind speed and wind direction from Hurricane Maria (time histories to be provided by NIST). Modeling the site-specific time histories of wind speed and wind direction will require active control of fans in the wind tunnel to achieve the specified wind speed history and active control of the turntable angle during the test to achieve the specified wind direction history. Modeling the non-stationary incoming wind speed profile will require active control of an array of fans to match PIV measurements of the flow field at 1:5000 scale and will require the capability of modeling wind speed profiles that increase non-monotonically with height (e.g., a "bullnose" profile), in order to capture topographic speed-up effects. A second requirement is for the Contractor to perform wind tunnel testing of building models for selected critical buildings in Puerto Rico, potentially including hospitals, schools, and/or storm shelters, to characterize wind loads on the building envelope and roof-mounted equipment. Activities related to this goal include but are not limited to: 6. Construction of at least three building models at 1:50 or 1:100 scale, incorporating arrays of pressure taps on the building envelope, with a total of up to 512 taps per model, and 6-axis miniature load cells to measure base forces and moments for selected roof-mounted equipment. 7. For each of the building models instrumented with pressure taps, construction of area models at a consistent scale including surrounding buildings and terrain, for installation on a turntable in the wind tunnel, with the area model representing a circular region with a diameter of 200 m (at 1:50 scale) or 400 m (at 1:100 scale). 8. Performing wind tunnel testing of turntable-mounted building models for a range of wind directions, including repetition of tests with and without the area model of the surrounding buildings and terrain, to quantify the influence of the surroundings on the resultant wind effects. 9. For each wind tunnel test of a building model, recording simultaneous pressure time histories from up to 512 taps per model, with sampling frequencies up to 625 Hz, along with time histories of base forces and moments from miniature load cells. 10. Modeling incoming wind speed profiles for building and area models through active control of an array of fans to capture topographic speed-up effects based on PIV measurements from topographic models, including wind speed profiles that increase non-monotonically with height. 11. Measurement of the incoming flow conditions using three Cobra probes mounted at different heights to a gantry system, with sampling frequencies up to 2000 Hz and synchronized data acquisition for the three probes, to quantify spatial correlation. 12. For selected cases, using a gantry-mounted Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system to measure three components of velocity in a planar region surrounding a building model, and using the gantry to traverse the PIV system to measure the 3D velocity field in the volume surrounding the model. PIV measurements require a field of view of approximately 30 cm by 60 cm, with an image resolution of 4 megapixels and a sampling rate of up to 800 frames per second. 13. For selected building and area models, performing wind tunnel tests with site-specific non-stationary time histories of wind speed and wind direction from Hurricane Maria. Modeling the site-specific time histories of wind speed and wind direction will require active control of fans in the wind tunnel to achieve the specified wind speed history and active control of the turntable angle during the test to achieve the specified wind direction history. Modeling the non-stationary incoming wind speed profile will require active control of an array of fans to match PIV measurements of the flow field from topographic models at 1:1000 scale and will require the capability of modeling wind speed profiles that increase non-monotonically with height, in order to capture topographic speed-up effects. A third requirement is for the Contractor to perform full-scale field measurements of wind speeds in Puerto Rico for validation of wind tunnel testing of topographic effects. Activities related to this goal may include but are not limited to: 14. Field deployment of an array of at least three towers, either mobile towers or permanently installed towers, in an area with topographic features of wind engineering interest, with at least three three-axis anemometers per tower mounted at heights ranging from 5 m to 15 m, including equipment for data storage, mobile communication for data transfer, and independent power supply (e.g., battery plus solar) for long-term operation. The Contractor will be responsible for rental or purchase of the required equipment and its setup or installation. 15. Collecting wind speed data over a period of 3-12 months to capture topographic effects associated with the passage of large-scale weather systems over the topographic feature of interest where the tower array is placed. A fourth requirement is for supporting services related to the wind tunnel testing and full-scale wind measurements. Activities related to this goal may include but are not limited to: 16. Archival and curation of all data collected as part of this study, which is anticipated to include as much as 2 petabytes of data, including raw and processed data from the PIV system, pressure taps, Cobra probes, and miniature load cells, as well as photographs and videos of the tests. These data must be made available to NIST and other Contractors and collaborators involved in the NCST study through a high-volume data transfer network. 17. Photo and video documentation of all tests. 18. Staging, transport, and disposal of specimens. The contractor lead for the project will be responsible for the following activities: a. Project management a. Project meetings with NIST, including frequent teleconferences and periodic in-person meetings in Gaithersburg, MD b. Progress reporting to NIST c. Regular review and evaluation of test protocols and plans RESPONSE INFORMATION In order for a contractor to clearly convey their capability to fulfill the above-identified need, they MUST SUBMIT the following information. It is preferred that Capability Statements address each of the components in the order in which they are listed below. Please provide information regarding the following: 1. Companies that provide the services with the desired capabilities must submit a detailed capability statement, addressing all of the specifications discussed above, in an organized format (preferably in the same order as listed above) that allows for a direct correlation to the requested information. 2. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research. 3. Description of the commercial availability to the public of services rendered. Are the services rendered commercially available to all public? Each response shall include the following Business Information: 1. Name of the company that provides services 2. Name, title, telephone number, and e-mail addresses of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 3. Business size for NAICS 541690 ($15 million) and status, if qualified as an 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA), Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA), Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA), and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Contractor Information Pages). 4. DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number, and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Companies also must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM www.sam.gov ) to be considered as potential sources. 5. Identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and contract number and SINs that are applicable to this potential requirement are also requested. SUBMISSION INFORMATION Responses must be submitted no later than June 28, 2018 at 11:00AM, EST. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. GENERAL INFORMATION As previously stated, the Government will not entertain questions regarding this Market Research; however, general questions may be forwarded to the following: Contracts Specialist: Lynda Horton Email Address: Lynda.Horton@nist.gov Phone: 301-975-3725 Contracting Officer: Keith Bubar Email Address: Keith.Bubar@nist.gov "Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s)."
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NIST/AcAsD/AMD-SS18-WINDTUNNELTEST/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 100 Bureau DRive, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, United States
- Zip Code: 20899
- Zip Code: 20899
- Record
- SN04964577-W 20180623/180621231553-7f6b213abe28e256ab2a3ae8511d1b13 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |