Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, 17320 Dahlgren Road, Dahlgren, VA 22448-5100

A -- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY FOR FRARICATION OF ABLATIVE LINERS TO BE USED IN TITANIUM OR STAINLESS STEEL STRUCTURES SOL N00178-97-Q-1008 DUE 120896 POC Roger J. McAughan, Code SD116 and Patricia A. Canciglia, Code SD112, (540) 653-7942. 1. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) is seeking to demonstrate the existence of the innovative material and production technology that is required to fabricate the ablative liner for a new generation of ducted launchers which will be used with new high performance missiles. The ablative liner must be both reasonably sized (thickness and weight) and affordable for eventual large-scale production. This ablator must be capable of protecting the launcher from the erosion and heating produced by the impingement of the exhaust from a highly-aluminized solid rocket motor during a single missile flyout or an inadvertent restrained missile firing. It is also possible that (at some time in the future) there will be a requirement that the plenum be capable of surviving more than one flyout, however it is not a requirement at this time. In FY97 NSWCDD will procure two identical ablative liners for testing, one in a simulated TOMAHAWK flyout and one in a restrained firing of a TOMAHAWK booster rocket motor. In subsequent years NSWCDD may consider the transition of this technology to a number of launcher development efforts supporting missiles such as TOMAHAWK, STANDARD MISSILE-2 Block IV (SM-2 BLKIV), TACM, and ESSM. 2. The gas management system of a ducted launcher consists of three components: (1) a cylindrical tube containing the missile, (2) an exhaust duct outside the first tube intended to vent the missile's exhaust to the ship's exterior during a missile flyout, and (3) a plenum connecting the two previous components. The plenum will contain the exhaust and direct it from the missile to the annular duct. Three plenum geometries will be addressed in this effort: (1) a hemisphere, (2) a flat-bottomed cylinder, and (3) a rectangular box. For the purposes of this study, only the titanium/stainless steel plenum structure will be ablated. 3. NSWCDD is seeking to obtain rough order of magnitude and schedule estimates for a contractor to design, manufacture, and install ablative linings in government furnished titanium or stainless steel plenum structures. NSWCDD is attempting to obtain this information in the following manner. Initially NSWCDD is seeking white papers (25 pages or less) outlining rough order of magnitude (ROM) costs and schedules for the fabrication and installation of several combinations of ablator compositions and thicknesses in three plenum geometries (hemispherical, cylindrical, and box). Once all of the responses have been received, a team of NSWCDD and CDNSWC engineers will evaluate the white papers. NSWCDD will then request (in mid January 1997) that the most qualified contractors provide additional information (e.g., technical and cost proposals) for two or three down-selected design options. 4. The first contract to be awarded (at the end of February 1997) will be for the design of one ablator concept and the fabrication of two identical ablative liners. The ablators will be installed by the contractor in two identical metal plenum shells (provided by NSWCDD) and delivered by the contractor to NSWCDD in September 1997. The ablative-lined plenums will be evaluated by NSWCDD in TOMAHAWK booster firing tests in FY98. The intent (provided the above tests validate the ablator and plenum designs) is for the Navy to contract for the fabrication and installation of 64 identical ablative linings in FY2000. It is anticipated that subsequently the Navy will procure 500 ablative liners in each of the following five years. 5. NSWCDD has made preliminary estimates of the heating inside the plenum that would be produced by a TOMAHAWK MARK 106 (MK106) rocket motor booster during a restrained firing. These values are based on steady-state, two-dimensional, two-phase, Navier-Stokes analyses of the flows in both a hemisphere and a flat-bottomed cylinder. These preliminary results are provided to the contractors for their information, updated heating estimates may be available prior to the request for additional information. The NSWCDD analyses indicate the heating is largely due to the aluminum-oxide particles which strike the plenum walls. The estimates of the heat flux distribution on the internal plenum surfaces are as follows: a. for a hemispherical plenum (assuming a wall temperature of 4040 Fahrenheit): (1) a local maximum at 15 degrees measured from the canister centerline -- 825 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit (2) second local maximum at 30 degrees -- 1450 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit (3) third local maximum at 45 degrees -- 2100 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit (4) average value over plenum surface from 0 to 90 degrees -- 1590 BTU/ft Fahrenheit b. for a flat-bottomed, cylindrical plenum (assuming a wall temperature of 4040 Fahrenheit): (1) on the bottom between the 0 to 8-inch radii (measured from canister centerline) -- peak values of 1200 to 1500 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit (2) on the sidewall a. 0 to 1.5 inches (distance measured from bottom) -- peak value of 3500 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit b. 1.5 to 5 inches -- peak value of 550 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit c. uptake entrance -- 125 BTU/ft (squared) Fahrenheit (3) average value over plenum surface -- 705 BTU/ft Fahrenheit c. assume magnitude/distribution of heating in a box plenum is similar to that in a cylindrical plenum 6. Contractors are requested to initially provide a ROM cost and schedule for each of the nine configurations, e.g., three plenum geometries and three ablator designs for each geometry. The three plenum geometries include: (1) a 32-inch inside diameter hemisphere, (2) a 32-inch inside diameter, 11-inch deep (inside) cylindrical cavity with a flat bottom, and (3) a rectangular box with an inside cross-section area of 30- by 22-inches and 13-inches deep. All dimensions describe the volume inside the heated surface of the plenum. (It should be noted these three geometries conserve the internal volume inside the ablator.) The three ablator designs are: a. NSWCDD design: a 1-inch thick erosion resistant layer of a carbon phenolic MX4926 (reinforced with -inch chopped squares) on the exposed inner surface backed up with a 1.5-inch insulating layer of a glass phenolic MXB360 (reinforced with a continuous filament glass mat) b. NSWCDD/contractor design: contractor-specified thicknesses of the carbon phenolic MX4926 on the heated surface backed up with the glass phenolic MXB360 c. Contractor design: an ablative design entirely of the contractor's choice including ablator/insulator type(s) and thickness(es). Contractors are encouraged to address any realistic ablators/insulators in their inventory (e.g., phenolics, polyimides ceramic matrix composites) and any realistic reinforcements (e.g., carbon, glass, silica, quartz, ceramic) available. Contractors must be able to provide (if requested by NSWCDD) the room-temperature thermophysical properties (i.e., thermal conductivity, specific heat, density and preferably heat of decomposition) for the ablators in the final selected design. NSWCDD will use these properties in its thermal analyses of the data measured when the plenums are tested. 7. Interested contractors are hereby offered the opportunity to respond to this request for quotation (RFQ). Responses are sought only from industry sources that have demonstrated capabilities in materials research, full-scale production of ablative linings, and/or the testing of rocket motors or missile launchers. An industry briefing is not planned. However, Dr. Charles T. Boyer (Code G72), NSWCDD will be available for individual sessions (one contractor at a time) not to exceed two hours duration during the week of 11 November 1996. Interested parties may contact him directly at (540)-653-7418 to schedule an appointment, via FAX at (540)-653-8453 or E-mail cboyer@nswc.navy.mil. Interested contractors who plan to submit a proposal in response to this announcement should notify Dr. Boyer of their intent by 15 November 1996. Proposals should be received by 2:00 PM, 20 December 1996. Proposals should reference this RFQ (N00178-97-Q-1008) and should be sent to the Dahlgren Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Attn: Mr. Roger J. McAughan, Contract Specialist, Code SD116, Dahlgren, Virginia 22448-5100, phone number (540)-653-7478, FAX number (540)-653-7480, and E-mail address rmcaugh@nswc.navy.mil. 8. Proposals should be prepared according to the following guidelines: a. Contractors should tell us how your research fits our effort. b. Contractors should tell us how your research meets the objective of the BAA. c. Contractors are strongly encouraged to submit proposals addressing all nine configurations. d. The contractor's credentials, technical approach and logistics of the proposal should be presented separately. This information should be useful for the formulation of a statement of work by NSWCDD. e. Credentials 1. contractor's technical understanding of: (a) protecting a metal launcher structure from the exhaust of a highly-aluminized solid propellant rocket motor (b) selecting the most efficient ablator matrix and reinforcement compositions/geometries for this type of launcher application (c) fabricating and installing ablators 2. capability of estimating missile exhaust heating and subsequent ablator erosion 3. previous experience designing and fabricating ablators for use in missiles and missile launchers 4. In-house production facilities (e.g., presses, autoclaves, automated tooling) 5. program manager and key technical personnel 6. Management approach f. Technical approach 1. description (matrix, modifiers, fillers, reinforcement) of the contractor's recommended ablator(s) for each design 2. description of the method by which the contractor's recommended ablator thicknesses were determined 3. description of the proposed fabrication and installation procedure(s) 4. contractor's recommendation for the best overall design (of the above nine possibilities) based on cost, weight, volume, and practicality for transition to production g. Logistics 1. initially a ROM cost and schedule for each configuration 2. list of deliverables 3. presentation of sufficient details to permit an analysis/audit of major subtasks h. An original and five copies of the proposal should be submitted to Mr. McAughan 9. Caveats a. This RFQ should not be construed as a commitment or authorization to incur any cost in anticipation of a resultant contract. b. Information provided herein is subject to modification and in no way binds the Government to award a contract. c. Any award decision will be based on a competitive selection of proposals resulting from a scientific review. Proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be evaluated using the following evaluation criteria: 1. cost, weight, and volume of each design 2. feasibility to transition design to full-scale production 3. overall technical merit and its relevance to the ablator's performance 4. innovation in identifying both ablator ingredients and fabrication techniques appropriate to this application 5. contractor's technical staff, facilities, and techniques or unique combinations of these which are appropriate to this application 6. anticipated future benefit of the proposed technology to ducted launcher programs 7. adequacy of the proposed effort to provide the necessary test hardware in a timely fashion 8. realism of the proposed cost and schedule. d. No portion of this announcement is set aside for HBCU and MI participation. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren Laboratory Procurement Division is taking steps toward implementating Electronic Commerce (EC) in the acquisition arena, therefore this BAA will also be available on the World Wide Webb at http://www.nswc.mil/ under Procurement Division or http://proc_div.nswc.mil/. (0303)

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