R&D Contracting Division, Bldg 7, 2530 C St, WPAFB OH 45433-7607

A -- ADVANCED NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) FOR RETIREMENT FOR CAUSE/ENGINE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY PROGRAM (RFC/ENSIP). THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS IN TWO PARTS. THIS IS PART 1 OF 2 . SOL PRDA #95-10-MLK DUE 031795 POC 2Lt Jim MacEachern, Contract Negotiator, (513) 255-5830 or Bruce Miller, Contracting Officer, (513) 255-5830. A--NOTICE: THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS IN TWO PARTS. PART 1 OF 2 PARTS: INTRODUCTION: Wright Laboratory (WL/MLLP) is interested receiving proposals (technical and cost) on the research and development effort described below. Proposals in response to this Program Research and Development Announcement (PRDA) shall be submitted by 17 March 1995, 1500 hours, local time, addressed to Wright Laboratory, Directorate of R&D Contracting, Area B, Building 7, 2530 C Street, ATTN: Jim MacEachern, WL/MLKM, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7607. This is an unrestricted solicitation. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all or any part of this solicitation. Proposals shall be submitted in accordance with this announcement. Proposals received after the cutoff date specified herein shall be treated in accordance 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 which may be published. The announcement may be amended to provide for subsequent dates for submission of proposals. Offerors should request a copy of the WL Guide entitled ''PRDA & BAA Guide for Industry.'' This guide was specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the PRDA/BAA process. Copies may be requested from WL/MLKM, Attn: Jim MacEachern, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, 45433-7607, telephone (513) 255-5830. B--REQUIREMENTS: (1) Technical Description: In 1986, the U.S. Air Force implemented the use of newly developed automated eddy current and ultrasonic inspection systems for maintenance production inspections of a number of specific rotating components of the F100 turbine engine for cracks as small as 5-mils to 10-mils deep in a range of holes, slots and other complex geometric details. Later, the use of these systems was expanded to F101 and F110 engine components. These systems are located at Jet Engine Overhaul Facilities at SA-ALC, Kelly AFB, Texas and OC-ALC, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Typical systems consist of three primary modules: (1) NDE INSPECTION MODULES (utilizing either eddy current or ultrasonic inspection stations) featuring for each station (a) a mechanical system for probe and component manipulation, (b) instrument cabinet and (c) specialized probes, sensors, part adapters, reference standards, scan plans, etc., which make up uniquely specified ''kits'' for each model part being inspected, (2) SYSTEM COMPUTERS which perform communication, system operation, data storage and processing functions, (3) the OPERATOR CONSOLE which is a passive station used to monitor overall system operational status and produce data reports. Since their implementation to conduct Retirement-for-Cause/Engine Structural Integrity Program (RFC/ENSIP) life management and safety inspection functions, the SA-ALC and OC-ALC NDE systems (subsequently referred to as the NDE Systems have successfully performed to specifications. The NDE systems' deliberate modular design accommodated some improvements early in the systems production phase. However, additional potential areas of further improvement and capability enhancement have been identified that require advanced development, in-situ demonstration and validation, and subsequent NDE Systems retrofit, when required. At the same time, the state-of-the-art of various areas of supporting technology has advanced since initial production NDE systems design, thus providing more potential avenues for capability improvements. The primary objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate integratable technology improvements germane to operational needs/opportunities identified by the Air Force and which are compatible with the current NDE systems basic design and overall operating characteristics. These improvements are aimed at increasing reliability and improving production time. Initial efforts in the overall program are aimed at systems operations with eddy current (EC) stations. For convenience of description and subsequent program requirements discussion, the NDE System is divided into functional areas which include: (1) EC Probes, (2) Signal Generation/Detection, (3) Signal Processing, (4) Display/Recorder, (5) Mechanical Positioning, (6) Calibration Processes, (7) System Computers, (8) Information/Data Base Archive and (9) Specialized System/Technology Features. NOTE: Obviously, these functional areas reside within an integrated system in which area interfaces and interdependencies exist and must be maintained for successful operation. Described briefly next, but not in a prioritized order, are initially identified improvement/enhancement needs to be addressed that include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) EC PROBES -Currently, several air bearing probe designs are used to satisfy specific geometry NDE requirements. Potential areas of improvements include, but are not limited to, advanced probe design alternatives with increased sensitivity, stability, repairability (including significantly longer-wear contact probe alternatives), higher compliant probes, lower noise output probes, wider tolerance, increased scan area probes with sensitivity-retention, (2) SIGNAL GENERATION/DETECTION - Advanced technology, increased capability, more robust EC instrumentation to replace current NDE System NDT-25L instruments, lower cost maintainability/repairability, long term calibration stability and meeting reliability/supportability requirements, (3) SIGNAL PROCESSING -Improved capabilities are needed to increase geometric feature discrimination (e.g., hole-chamfer transition) and cracks, between dirt/thin oxide and defects, etc., and accomplish material noise suppression, (4) DISPLAY/RECORDER - Improvement opportunities of significant merit will be considered, (5) MECHANICAL POSITIONING - Each current NDE System station is equipped with a multi-axis mechanical manipulator with linear X-Y-Z arms and two-axis robotic wrist for EC probe selection, installation, positioning and scanning. Potential improvement areas include advanced capability motion controllers with efficient, reliable state-of-the-art system interfaces to increase motion speed and accuracy, (6) CALIBRATION PROCESS - Improved calibration methods and standard materials are sought where appropriate to help maintain optimum system precision, consistency and reliability through periodic process and performance measurements. Development/demonstration of ''more flexible'' calibration/validation standards applicable to multiple materials/component configurations is sought. Interchangeability of standards among NDE system stations and the ability to conduct inspections from the same baseline performance measures shall be demonstrated, (7) SYSTEM COMPUTERS - The SA-ALC system Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) VAX 11/780 computer and the OC-ALC system DEC VAX 82/50 computer are undergoing a change to the micro VAX 3000 series units to reduce the degree of systems obsolescence and resulting maintainability difficulties. Inspection stations at both facilities are equipped with the Intel Multibus II configuration. Key areas of NDE systems improvement include the development and demonstration of NDE systems design adjustment alternatives that integrate advanced state-of-the-art computer processing methods and equipment aimed at yielding greater processing power and speed, lower cost, significantly increased reliability/maintainability/supportability, and future expansion capability. Approaches that do not impact current operating system software (DEC VMS and Intel iRMX), and approaches that do result in software changes, but show significant net performance benefits, are being sought. The system must be able to communicate simultaneously with all stations, with broad capabilities to access information from each individual station, (8) INFORMATION/DATA Base ARCHIVE - Production NDE process and inspection data information are placed in ALC's NDE archives for subsequent retrieval and analysis as required. As the volumes of these archives have reached significant sizes, the development/demonstration of optimum methods of manipulating and utilizing the data bases is needed in order to provide the most efficient, flexible, user-friendly support for analyses, assessments and decision processes, (9) SPECIALIZED SYSTEM/TECHNOLOGY FEATURES - Additional areas for potential improvement through advanced development and demonstration include, as a minimum, the following: (a) Rapid In-House Development and Modification Process to Inspection Scan Plans - Currently employed methods to build and modify NDE scan plans for the engine rotating parts being inspected, generally involve lengthy and costly part-specific procedures. Being sought is a methodology that will enable rapid in-house development on a generic scan plan baseline model to be demonstrated that can be adapted by the Air Force user to specific part geometries and inspection requirements quickly and economically, and to include additions and/or changes of geometric details. The generic and feature-specific methodology shall be optimized for ease, speed and economy of use. (b) RAPID LARGE AREA EC SCANNING - Fluorescent liquid penetrant inspection (FPI) methods are employed normally to inspect for surface anomalies, defects and cracks in some larger, open areas of engine rotating parts (e.g., for disk web areas) not involving smaller, more complex geometric features. Advanced developments being sought shall inspect for all but very small defects in complex geometry areas. Rapid scanning techniques shall substantially exceed the speed, cost and detection capabilities of current FPI practices for such applications. This program shall consist of three successive tasks with multiple contract awards anticipated. Based on the evaluation criteria, as well as the particular technical requirements for the functional area(s) being addressed by the offerers, some awards will consist of all three tasks, whereas some will be only for selected task(s). Proposals for work in one or more functional area may be submitted but shall require separate cost proposals. Teaming is strongly encouraged. The three tasks are: (1) Concept Development, (2) Prototype Development/Evaluation, (3) Depot NDE System Integration. ( NOTE: To the extent practicable during all tasks, each contractor shall be cognizant of, and optimize compatibility with, technologies being developed by other function area contractors in order to coordinate integration into the NDE systems. To facilitate this interaction and synergism, all contractors shall be required to participate as a ''team'' in periodic technical progress and coordination/interfacing reviews and problem solving to assure unity of overall purpose.) The contractor shall provide, at the end of Task 1, a written discussion justifying the readiness, affordability and supportability of the proposed technology for Task 2 effort and a descriptive plan for Task 2. Likewise, a prototype readiness plan and integration plan (Detailed Task 3 description) shall be submitted at the close of Task 2. For proposal planning and bidding purposes, the number of projected two-day reviews during the contract period shall include: two at SA-ALC, San Antonio, TX, two at OC-ALC, two at WL/ML, Dayton, OH with one of the six being a Contract Kickoff Meeting. TASK 1. CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT: This task provides for further development/modification/adaptation of proposed functional area technical improvement(s), if shown to be needed, to meet mid-term requirements of this program. Emphasis will be on the use of relatively mature or ''off-the-shelf'' technology. END OF PART 1. (0027)

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