1202SC24Q2712 Pre Solicitation Notice - Prohesion Spray Testing to ASTM G85 and B117.pdf

PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE - 1202SC24Q2712

This is a Pre-solicitation Notice announcement ONLY. This Pre-solicitation Notice is being posted to the Government-wide Point of Entry (GPE) website (https://sam.gov) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.204, Pre-solicitation notices. This pre-solicitation notice is prepared in accordance with FAR 5.207(a).

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Property and Procurement Services (PPS), Incident Procurement Operations (IPO) intends to issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ) in support of the Fire Chemicals Program. Subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and the Simplified Acquisition Procedures set forth in FAR Part 13. The Resultant contract, if any, will be a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) purchase order.

Competition Requirements: Total Small Business Set-aside

Procurement Method: Simplified Acquisition Procedures

Source Selection Process: Price and Specifications

Type of Contract: Firm Fixed Price

Background:

The USDA Forest Service (FS) has a requirement for commercial services, Salt Fog Prohesion Spray Testing to ASTM G85 and B117 using long-term fire retardants. All wildland fire chemicals currently undergo a 90-day uniform corrosion test that documents weight loss corrosion in a static environment.

New findings from the field suggest a need to test these products in other ways to better understand impacts to aircraft operating in the environment of wildland firefighting. A static environment may not represent aircraft exposures to certain alloys, which is where this testing will provide results, insight, and documentation.

Fire and Aviation Management and the National Technology and Development Program are seeking a corrosion test laboratory to conduct modified salt fog testing protocol in accordance with ASTM G85 and B117. This method would be used to help guide the testing using Long-Term Fire Retardants in place of the 5% Sodium Chloride Solution using Annex 5 of ASTM G85 as general cycle guidance. The intent is to understand the different corrosion that is experienced when the different products are exposed to the environment described in the ASTM, Annex 5.

The results of this work will help guide the use of long-term retardants and may be added in as a performance standard for future wildland fire chemical qualifications. Long-term retardants have thickeners added into their formula to improve performance – so the chambers used to perform this testing will likely require modifications to spray these products in a uniform manner.

Requirements:

All testing being requested will be as closely conforming to ASTM B117 and G85 as possible using long-term retardants in place of the specified salt mixtures. This chamber will likely require modifications to pump and spray the gum-thickened products. These products range from 150 – 500cP. The testing will include the 8 long-term retardants listed in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1 Long-Term Retardants for Corrosion Testing

Test Material # Material Type Mix ratio Temperature

01 Phos-Chek MVP-Fx 0.96 lbs/gal

Tested at 95F per ASTM B117

02 Phos-Chek LCE20-Fx 5.2:1 03 Phos-Chek LC95A-R 5.5:1 04 Phos-Chek LC95A-Fx 5.5:1 05 Fortress FR-100 1.68 lbs/gal 06 Fortress FR-200 2.4:1 07 Fortress FR-105 1.68 lbs/gal 08 Fortress Qela 1.02 lbs/gal

A suitable Salt-Fog chamber that meets all necessary requirements of the guidance ASTMs shall be used.

Each long-term retardant shall be run for the course of 7-days (168 hours) using the Annex 5 of ASTM G85. This has a “spray” and “dry” cycle that could better replicate field applications than a constant spray. Each new cycle of a new retardant product shall incorporate a thorough cleaning of the spray chamber prior to starting a new product test cycle. A list of the test samples is identified in the following table and shall be tested using 3 samples per material type:

Table 1-2 Material for Corrosion Testing

Test Material # Material Type Thickness (in) Specification

01 2014-T6 Bare Sheet 0.050 – 0.125 AMS 4029 02 2024-T3 Bare Sheet 0.050 – 0.125 AMS 4037 03 2024-T62 Bare Sheet <1> 0.050 – 0.125 AMS-QQ-A-250/4 04 6061-T6 Bare Sheet 0.050 – 0.125 AMS 4025 05 7075-T6 Bare Sheet 0.050 – 0.125 AMS 4045

<1> 2024-T62 material is unique in that it is not a mill supplied temper. It is procured in the -0 or -F temper from the supplier allowing the receiver to form parts with it. After forming the parts, the receiver is responsible for heat treating the material to the final temper 2024-T62. For this test plan, the 03 material must be procured in the 2024-0 condition and then heat treated to 2024-T62 temper (Heat treatment specification is AMS 2770H).

These samples shall have final metal surface roughness of 63 RHR or better, by polishing as necessary;

degreasing the specimen after polishing is complete or in conformance to the ASTM preparation guidance. The four edges and the bottom of the specimen should be covered with a masking material to limit corrosion to the top test surface. A clear or transparent electroplating tape can be used on the lower surface and a clear or transparent painted on masking can be used along the edges. The test lab may recommend a different process based on their experience conducting these types of test in their laboratory.

The USFS will provide the retardants in sufficient quantities to support the testing for this program with the expected test duration of 7 days for each product. Recycling and reuse of the retardant in the Fog Chamber is acceptable during the testing.

• As necessary, the solution used in the fog chamber will be replaced with a new batch of retardant.

• The baseline salt solution shall be prepared per requirements in ASTM B117, Section 8.1.

• pH should be checked and recorded at time of preparation and during the tests. Each time a new batch of solution is introduced into the test, both the pH of the removed solution and the new solution should be recorded.

All necessary quality control samples shall be tested for each of the 8 long-term retardants, as well as a cycle using the standard 5% NaCl solution on the same 7-day (168-hour) length cycle. All testing should be performed to the best practices for handling metallurgical testing and test specimen cleaning to ASTM G1. Photos shall be taken before and after environmental exposure noting which samples were tested in each photograph. Any significant deviations will be noted in the report dialogue for record keeping purposes.

At the end of each cycle each of the following shall be measured and recorded:

• the corrosion rates (weight loss calculated to mils per year)

• the number of pits and pitting depths shall be measured in accordance with MIL-STD-5541 and

(as applicable the ASTMs).

• Any metallurgical observations shall also be noted and comparisons given across all long-term retardant products tested.

Responsibilities:

• The test lab is responsible for procuring all materials needed for testing. The long-term retardants will be provided by the Forest Service

• All materials are to be bare and not clad material.

• All materials procured must be accompanied by the certification paperwork generated by the mill producing the original lot of material.

• The test lab is responsible for the heat treatment of the 2024-T62 material. There will be no forming required for the material. The heat treatment is to be accomplish per AMS 2770H. If the laboratory does not have heat treatment capabilities, then the material must be sent to a subcontractor in the aerospace industry for heat treatment

TERMS OF DELIVERY: 90 Calendar Days after Award

The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code to be assigned to this procurement is 541380 with an associated small business size standard of $19 mil.

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. Submission of any information in response to this pre-solicitation is voluntary. The Government does not assume any financial responsibility for any costs incurred associated to this pre-solicitation.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Interested parties, who are qualified and have the capability to deliver the Government’s testing requirements are invited to submit a response to the solicitation within the timeframe stated in the solicitation.

Request for Quote (RFQ) 1202SC24Q2712 for this acquisition will be released on or about Friday, May 10, 2024, and will close on or about Friday, May 24, 2024. It is anticipated that one (1) contract will be awarded on or about Tuesday, May 28, 2024, with a required delivery timeframe of 90 Calendar Days after Award. This acquisition will be competed as a 100% Total Small Business Set Aside.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: All prospective offerors must have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov associated with NAICS 541380. You must have an active registration in SAM to do business with the federal government. In accordance with FAR 52.204-7.For additional information, go to https://www.sam.gov.

This Pre-solicitation Notice seeks to provide information to interested parties about a potential opportunity to provide the item stated above. This Pre-solicitation Notice does not commit the Government to contract for any supply. Respondents are advised that the United States (U.S.)

Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to either this Pre-solicitation Notice or the Solicitation Notice. All costs associated with responding to either this Pre-solicitation Notice or the Solicitation Notice will be solely at the responding party’s expense. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. The solicitation subsequent to this announcement may be cancelled at any time without warning. After solicitation, and prior to award, all offers may be rejected if in the best interest of the Government or the public.

Please direct any questions regarding this notice to: Matthew Cox at matthew.cox2@usda.gov. Include the reference number (1202SC24Q2712) in the subject line.

(End Pre-Solicitation Notice) https://www.sam.gov/ mailto:matthew.cox2@usda.gov