SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Rapid Part Qualification
- Notice Date
- 6/6/2023 8:40:45 AM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541715
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- DEF ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGCY ARLINGTON VA 222032114 USA
- ZIP Code
- 222032114
- Solicitation Number
- DARPA-SN-23-73
- Response Due
- 7/14/2023 1:00:00 PM
- Archive Date
- 07/15/2023
- Point of Contact
- Dr. Andrew Detor
- E-Mail Address
-
DARPA-SN-23-73@darpa.mil
(DARPA-SN-23-73@darpa.mil)
- Description
- Request for Information (RFI) DARPA-SN-23-73 Rapid Part Qualification Responses Accepted: Until 4:00 p.m. (Eastern) on July 14, 2023 Point of Contact: Dr. Andrew Detor, Program Manager, DARPA/DSO Email Address: DARPA-SN-23-73@darpa.mil The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is requesting information on areas of research and new approaches to simultaneously decrease design margins and accelerate manufacturing qualification of structural hardware for DoD systems.� Background Before entering service, every part in an engineered system must be qualified to prove that it meets design intent. Today, qualification of most structural hardware is done at the process level. Material coupons from individual processes (e.g., forging, casting, machining, etc.) are tested and required to conform to an extensive range of properties. It is then assumed that future parts processed on the same machine, and under the same conditions, are qualified for service, often with periodic quality control testing. While this approach has served industry well for conventional fixed processing methods, it does not efficiently scale for the more adaptable additive manufacturing ecosystem (where scale is primarily achieved through the installation of additional machines) and can be overly burdensome for custom, low-volume production. The potential for distributed manufacturing is also suppressed by traditional process qualification procedures that create high barriers of entry for the supply base. A novel approach to part qualification is needed to enable rapid, scalable, and distributed manufacturing of critical structural components. The burden of qualification is compounded by inefficiencies in structural design where margins (a.k.a. safety factors) are introduced to account for unknown variabilities in material, production, and service conditions. Typical design margins range from 1.5-3X (i.e., systems are designed to sustain up to three times their specified performance requirement and/or lifetime); this can negatively impact the efficiency, production rate, and raw material used in engineered systems. While the ability to characterize and quantify uncertainty across the manufacturing lifecycle has significantly improved over the past decade, these improvements have not been exploited in design.� Minimum material property assumptions and significant factors of safety are still the norm. Modern data-driven approaches to reduce design margins in a quantifiable, reliable, and safe manner would have significant impact across a range of platforms. This RFI and subsequent workshop seek to initiate a focused discussion on new ideas and breakthrough future directions to reimagine and accelerate hardware qualification and reduce design margins for critical metallic structural components. DARPA believes that recent advances in high-fidelity data collection during manufacturing will fundamentally change the way qualification and engineering design are conducted. If fully successful, the future state will be defined by two new realities: (1) on-the-fly qualification of critical structural hardware conducted during manufacturing in a way that is decoupled from upstream details (i.e., feedstock characterization, machine specifics, etc.) and that is not reliant on extensive post-process inspection and (2) systems designed and operated with minimal margin (e.g., is 1.01X possible?) enabled by manufacturing-derived information to ensure part performance and service life. New approaches to structural health monitoring to track the behavior of individual parts in service is also of interest as a means to bolster the lean design and aggressive manufacturing stance described here. �Specific interests for this RFI and subsequent workshop include, but are not limited to: State-of-the-art and potential future approaches to in-situ data collection and interpretation during manufacturing (additive or subtractive) with an emphasis on quantitative determination of part quality and service life estimation. Application of risk-based design optimization methods and new mathematical frameworks incorporating (and exploiting) high-dimensional uncertainties arising from manufacturing-induced material variability. Novel, multi-modal, embedded sensor technologies to track the progression of part failure modes and state variables (e.g., temperature, strain, etc.) during service with minimal impact on system performance, complexity, or cost. Use of reduced order modeling approaches to capture and reconcile the complexities of manufacturing, materials, and component failure modes in efficient, iterable models for incorporation in design optimization routines and/or component life estimation. � DARPA is seeking revolutionary, paradigm-shifting approaches to part qualification that can be applied to accelerate the production of critical DoD systems and significantly reduce design margins. Incremental advancement of the state of the art is not of interest. While not platform-specific, responses should discuss the applicability of new approaches to attritable/unmanned systems and an assessment of expected benefits in production time, rate, cost, and quality compared to the current state of the art. Specific recommendations for exemplar parts, including constraints, boundary conditions, and requirements that could be the focus of future manufacturing and capability demonstrations is also desired. WORKSHOP A DARPA-sponsored in-person workshop is being planned for August 15, 2023 in Arlington, VA for the purpose of reviewing and discussing future research areas relevant to this RFI, addressing new insights and challenges in this area, and providing an opportunity for different communities (e.g., manufacturing, design and life methods, and structural health monitoring) to interact for future teaming arrangements in anticipation of subsequent solicitations that may be issued by DARPA in this or related areas. Workshop space is limited and only RFI respondents will be eligible to attend. Responses to this RFI must be received by DARPA no later than 4 p.m. (Eastern), July 14, 2023. Some individuals may be asked to make formal presentations. Formal presentations are expected to be approximately 15 minutes in duration or shorter lightning talks of approximately three minutes in duration, and presentation materials should be limited to non-proprietary and publicly releasable information. The workshop format will be a combination of group discussion/brainstorming and formal presentations. DARPA will determine the list of formal presentations and lightning talks based on RFI submissions. Invitations will be sent via email by 12:00 p.m. (Eastern), August 2, 2023 and will provide further details on the workshop. All attendees, including those who will not be giving presentations, will be encouraged to participate in the general discussions and to make recommendations for future research in this area. Invitations to the workshop will be issued to selected formal presenters and lightning talk submissions first. Other RFI respondents will be invited on a first-come, first-served, space available basis, based on RFI response date and time. Attendees will be limited to no more than two (2) individuals per CAGE (Commercial and Government Entity) Code. Invitees who are not U.S. citizens and wish to participate will need to complete and submit either a DARPA Form 60 (U.S. Permanent Resident and Foreign National Visit Request � e.g., industry or academia) or an Official Visit Request (foreign government personnel, only) through their government�s embassy no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern), August 9, 2023. DARPA Form 60 submission instructions are provided on the registration website. Contact your Embassy staff for assistance in submitting the Official Visit Request. SUBMISSION FORMAT Respondents to this RFI are encouraged to be as succinct as possible while also providing actionable insight. Page limits for each section are indicated below. Format specifications for responses include 12-point font, single-spaced, single-sided, 8.5 by 11-inch paper, with 1-inch margins in MS Word or Adobe PDF format and, as applicable, PowerPoint. To the maximum extent possible, respondents are encouraged to send non-proprietary information. Respondents are responsible for clearly identifying any page conveying proprietary information, with a label such as �Proprietary� or �Company Proprietary.� DO NOT INCLUDE ANY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN THE RFI RESPONSE. Cover Sheet (1 page): Provide the following information. Response Title Technical point of contact name, organization, telephone number, and email address Technical Description (3 pages) Bibliography/References (1 pages) Graphic Overview Slide: A single PowerPoint slide that graphically depicts the main ideas of the response. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION All responses to this RFI must be emailed to DARPA-SN-23-73@darpa.mil. Responses will be accepted any time from the publication of this RFI until 4:00 p.m. (Eastern) on July 14, 2023. Early responses are encouraged. All technical and administrative correspondence and questions regarding this RFI should also be sent to the same email address. Emails sent directly to the DARPA Program Manager may result in a delayed or no response. ELIGIBILITY DARPA invites participation from all those engaged in related research activities and appreciates responses from all capable and qualified sources, including, but not limited to, universities, university-affiliated research centers (UARCs), Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), private or public companies, and Government research laboratories. DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES This is an RFI issued solely for information and new program planning purposes; it does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government as such. Responses do not bind DARPA to any further actions related to this topic, including requesting follow-on proposals from respondents to this RFI. Submission is voluntary and is not required to propose to a subsequent Broad Agency Announcement (if any) or other research solicitations (if any) on this topic. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI or attending the subsequent workshop. Respondents are advised that DARPA is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. DARPA will disclose submission contents only for the purpose of review. Submissions may be reviewed by the Government (DARPA and other Government partners); FFRDCs; and Scientific, Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) support contractors.
- Web Link
-
SAM.gov Permalink
(https://sam.gov/opp/bc5c3d4a79414d768421201181e16f28/view)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Arlington, VA 22203, USA
- Zip Code: 22203
- Country: USA
- Zip Code: 22203
- Record
- SN06705168-F 20230608/230606230113 (samdaily.us)
- Source
-
SAM.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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