R&D Contracting Directorate, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607

A -- ROBUST FIBER COATINGS SOL PRDA NO# 98-38-MLK DUE 050498 POC Contact Felix E. Turner Contract Negotiator, (937) 255-5830 or Terry L. Rogers, Contracting Officer, (937) 255-5830 E-MAIL: click here to contact the contract negotiator, turnerfe@wl.wpafb.af.mil. INTRODUCTION: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/MLKM) is interested in 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 May 04, 1998, 1500 hours, local time, addressed to Air Force Research Laboratory, Directorate of R&D Contracting, Area B, Building 7, 2530 C Street, ATTN: Felix E. Turner, AFRL/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. Proposal submission after the cutoff date specified herein shall be treated in accordance with restrictions of FAR 52.215-1(c) (3); 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. The "PRDA & BAA Guide for Industry" is available through either of the following methods: (1) Download from the Internet. Go to the Wright Laboratory R&D Contracting Home Page and look under "A Contracting Toolbox" for "PRDA/BAA Indexed Guide" at http://www.wrs.afrl.af.mil/contract, or, (2) Written request to Felix E. Turner, AFRL/MLKM, Bldg 7, Area B, 2530 C Street, Wright Patterson AFB, OH, 45433-7607, telefax (937) 255-9217. Please provide written requests to Felix E. Turner only if you are unable to download the information from the Home Page. B -- REQUIREMENTS: (1) Technical Description: The objective is development and demonstration of a Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) fiber-matrix interface that remains effective for 1000 hours between room temperature and at least 1200 C in oxidizing atmospheres typical for a turbine engine. Development should address necessary improvements to the fiber coating phase/phases, microstructure, and thickness, and processing issues associated with fiber coating and matrix formation. Demonstration should be done on a CMC with a fiber architecture and fiber volume fraction that is a close approximation to what would be used in an application. Room temperature mechanical properties and distributed damage mechanisms during strain to failure, under monotonic loading and fatigue, that are comparable to high performance C and BN interface based CMCs shall be demonstrated. These mechanical properties and distributed damage mechanisms shall also be demonstrated between room temperature and at least 1200 C. The demonstrations should be conducted over times and temperatures that establish that the fiber or matrix, and not the fiber-matrix interface, is performance limiting. However, if the fiber is performance limiting beneath 1200 C, demonstration to the maximum temperature capability of the fiber and subsequent characterization or other demonstration that shows presence of a functional fiber-matrix interface is also satisfactory. (2) Deliverable Items: The following deliverable data items will be required: (a) Status Report, DI-MGMT-80368/T, monthly, (b) Funds and Man-hour Expenditure Report, DI-FNCL-80331/T, monthly, (c) Contract Funds Status Report (CFSR), DI-MGMT-81468/T, quarterly, (d) Presentation Material, DI-ADMN-81373/T, as required, (e) Scientific and Technical Reports, Contractor's Billing Voucher, DI-MISC-80711/T, monthly, (f) Scientific and Technical Reports, Final Report, DI-MISC-80711/T, end of contract (Draft and Reproducible Final Version) (3) Security Requirements: DD Form 254 requirements do not apply.4. Other Special Requirements: International Traffic in Arms Regulations apply. C -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (1) Anticipated Period of Performance: The total contract performance should be completed within 30 months of contract award. The technical effort is expected to take 25 months, with an additional 5 months to write, review and correct the final report. (2) Expected Award Date: 11 September 1998. (3) Government Estimate: The Government funding profile is estimated to be as follows: FY98 -- 10K, FY99 -- 220K, FY00 -- $225K, FY01 -$209K, FY02 -$40K. More than one award could be made for this PRDA; the funding shown is the total for all awards. This funding profile is an estimate only and is not a promise for funding as all funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability. (4) Type of Contract: Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or Cost (no fee). Any grants awarded will be cost (no fee). (5) Government Furnished Property/Base Support: None Contemplated. (6) Size Status: For the purpose of this acquisition, the size standard is 1000 employees (SIC 8731). (7) Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the Air Force point cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that restrictions may apply which could preclude their participation in this acquisition. (8) The government may issue a grant to a university or non-profit institution as a result of this action. (9) Teaming arrangements between Universities and Private Industry will also be considered and are encouraged. D -- PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: (1) General Instructions: Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision at FAR 52.215-1(c), Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data, to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in the "WL PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry" referenced in Section A of this announcement. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and must be valid for 180 days after the proposal date. Proposals must reference the above PRDA number on all Proposal Volumes. Proposals shall be submitted in an original and five (5) copies. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which will be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the government. (2) Cost Proposal: Adequate price competition is anticipated. The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be supplied, together with supporting schedules and shall contain a person-hour breakdown per task by fiscal year. (3) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. Additional information on prior experience in this area, descriptions of available equipment, data and facilities, and resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort should also be included as attachments to the technical proposal and are not included in the page limit. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort and suitable for contract incorporation. Offerors should refer to the WL Guide referenced in Section A to assist in SOW preparation. PL 98-94 applies. Offerors must submit an approved DD Form 2345, Export-Controlled DOD Technical Data Agreement, with their proposal. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or Statement of Work preparation shall be referred to the Technical Point of Contact cited in this announcement. (4) Page Limitations: The technical proposal shall be limited to 100 pages (12 font type or larger), double spaced, single sided, 8.5 by 11 inches. The page limitation includes all information i.e., indexes, photographs, foldouts, appendices, attachments, etc. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered by the government. Cost proposals have no limitation; however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals to 75 pages as a goal. If selected for negotiations, qualifying offerors will be required to submit a subcontracting plan. (5) Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the Government to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting or any other contract. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18.E -- BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of one or more sources for contract award will be based on a scientific and/or engineering evaluation of offerors' responses (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of your proposal in response to the announcement. The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority is significantly more important than cost or price and shall be evaluated based upon the following criteria which are of equalimportance: (a) new and creative solutions that may be generically applied across the high temperature structural materials industry; (b) the offeror's understanding of the scope of the technical effort; (c) soundness of offeror's technical approach; (d) the availability of qualified technical personnel and their experience with applicable technologies and technologies critical to the Air Force; (e) the offeror's past experience with high temperature structural materials, and ceramic matrix composites in particular, (f) organization, clarity, and thoroughness of the proposed Statement of Work; and (g) overall management approach and plan, including the offeror's demonstration of a proactive management approach and a plan to maintain the proposed schedule, bill the government for work promptly, and ensure the achievement of expenditure rates at or above 75% within a fiscal year. Cost, which includes consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles is ranked as the second order of priority. The technicaland cost information will be evaluated at the same time. No other evaluation criteria will be used. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award of a contract, grant or cooperative agreement any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. Award of a grant to universities or non profit institutions or cooperative agreement, in lieu of a contract, will be considered and will be subject to the mutual agreement of the parties. F -- POINTS OF CONTACT: (1) Technical Contact Point: Questions on technical issues may be referred to the Project Engineer, Randall S. Hay, AFRL/MLLN, Bldg 655, 2230 Tenth Street, Suite 1, WPAFB, OH 45433-7817, phone: (937) 255-9825; e-mail address is hayrs (2) Contracting/Cost Point of Contact: Questions on contractual and cost issues should be directed to the Air Force Research Laboratory, Directorate of Research and Development Contracting, Felix E. Turner, AFRL/MLKM, Building 7, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7607 (937) 255-5830. G -- OMBUDSMAN: An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerors and potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. All potential offerors should use established channels to voice concerns before resorting to use of the Ombudsman. When requested, the Ombudsman shall maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the selection decision. Interested parties are invited to contact Mr. Stephen J. Plaisted, ASC/SYI, 1790 10th Street, Room 102.01, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433, phone 937-255-9095/5535, e-mail address is stephen.plaisted@ascsy.wpafb.af. All routine communications concerning this acquisition should be directed to Felix E. Turner, Contract Negotiator, AFRL/MLKM, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7607, telephone 937-255-5936; e-mail address is turnerfe@wl.wpafb.af.mil. H -- NOTE 26 applies: (0077)

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