National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div., Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

A -- FRACTURE TOUGHNESS EXPERIMENT SOL 53SBNB867006 DUE 011598 POC Brenda K. Lee (301) 975-6394 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. This is a small business set aside. The SIC code is 8742. The size standard is $5M (average annual receipts for preceding 3 fiscal years). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Crystal Growth/Material Testing Association, 6918 Lamont Drive, Lanham, MD 20706 to conduct fracture mechanics experiments in support of prestandardization activities. The Government anticipates awarding an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for a base period consisting of 12 months. In addition, the Government will include an optional period for which orders may be placed. This optional period will consist of 12 months. The Contractor shall conduct a broad range of experiments using stereo scanning electron microscopy photography for discerning ceramic precracks with an accuracy of better than two percent in size and a precision of three percent or better. The purpose of the experiments will be to: (1) Conduct tests relevant to ASTM, ISO standardization and a Department of Energy Contract to NIST; and (2) obtain data that will be used for the creation of a preliminary database for Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2100. The minimum number of hours will be 1,056 hours. The maximum number of hours ordered under this contract will be 2,112 hours for the total including option, if exercised. Three task orders will be issued at the time of contract award. Task Order One shall consist of two subtasks: Subtask A -- The Contractor shall test 20 glass ceramic test specimens and up to 20 NC 132 silicon nitride specimens from billet D for comparison to diametral compression fracture toughness specimens. The Contractor shall measure the fracture toughness of these ceramics by the SCF and Single-Edge Precrack Beam (SEPB) test methods. The contractor shall also conduct dye penetrant experiments in hot-pressed silicon nitride specimens. The following NIST Ceramics Division equipment shall be used: universal testing machines, microhardness testing machines, optical and scanning electron microscopes, and polishing equipment. The Contractor shall be required to work on-site when utilizing this equipment. Subtask B -- The Contractor shall test specimens from two new billets (H and D) by SCF method to establish the consistency of these billets. This task is also expanded to include 12 fracture toughness tests by the SEPB test on specimens from billet C and 40 additional SCF experiments for specimens from billets C,A,B. The Contractor shall measure the fracture toughness by the SEPB and SCF methods for specimens cut from hot pressed silicon nitride billets and determine whether the fracture toughness is consistent with earlier results and whether specimens from the three billets (C,A,G) are statistically the same. The objective of this subtask is to determine whether the three billets are suitable as a SRM for fracture toughness. Under Task Order One, the Contractor shall conduct fracture tests on silicon nitride specimens with precracks created by Knoop indentation or bridge precracking and record and present data so that data may be statistically analyzed by NIST. The Government anticipate a period of performance for Task Order One of 132 days. Task Order Two requires the sectioning of silicon nitride silicon carbide and alumina specimens. The Contractor shall characterize the damage patterns underneath the indentations using specimens already polished and indented at NIST and polishing equipment available at NIST to progressively polish down and through Vickers indentations. The objective of this work is to verify that damage and microcracking patterns change beyond a critical indentation load as established by brittleness experiments previously done at NIST. Under Task Order Two, the Contractor shall conduct serial sectioning of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and alumina specimens furnished by NIST. In addition, the Government shall polish, Vickers indent, then progressively polish and photograph damage zone in the vicinity of indentation as a function of depth removed, compare results to interface bonded damage zone characterization and record and prepare data for submission to NIST. The Government anticipates a period of performance for Task Order Two of 132 days. Task Order Three requires testing 20 AD-99 extruded alumina and 90 AD-999 alumina specimens for strength; and 15 AD-999 and 20 NC 132 silicon nitride specimens for fracture toughness. The Contractor shall: Test method development in support of ASTM and Department of Energy Contract number DE-A105-850R21569; Fracture specimens prepared by NIST using universal testing machine; Prepare specimens for fractographic examination; Compare test results to flexure test data; Prepare some specimens with Knoop precracks and conduct preliminary experiments to assess the suitability of this test method as an ASTM standard; and Work in cooperation with U.S. Army Research Laboratory representative(s). Under Task Order Three the Contractor shall conduct diametral compression strength tests on the ceramic specimens furnished by NIST, prepare the specimens for fractographic characterization, Knoop indent selected specimens for fracture toughness testing, and record and prepare data for analysis by NIST. The Government anticipates a period of performance for Task Order Three of 132 days. The Government requires a Key Personnel with the following qualifications: PhD Degree in the area of Materials Engineering; Five years experience in the areas of ceramic specimen preparation, optical and scanning electron microscopy, fractography, universal testing machine and hardness testing machine methodologies. The Contractor shall provide reports and records on all tested specimens. The reports and records shall be provided in a hardcopy and an electronic version as a WordPerfect 6.1 or Microsoft Word 6.0 type file. Reports and records shall be provided to the Government within one week after the conclusion of any test and shall be delivered FOB Destination. The Government will provide the following equipment for use on-site: universal testing machines, microhardness testing machines, optical microscopes, and polishing equipment. Requests for a copy of a solicitation package will be disregarded. No solicitation package will be issued. The Government will verbally request a written quotation from Crystal Growth/Material Testing Association that will set forth an hourly rate for a labor category corresponding to the Key Personnel requirements. The Contractor must be able to meet all the requirements stated herein. The anticipated award date of the contract is on or around January 15, 1998. In accordance with FAR 5.207(e)(3), Numbered Note 22, DOES NOT APPLY. Numbered Notes 1 and 26 apply. If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact Brenda Lee at the telephone number identified above. (0349)

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