Attachment_1_Rotary_Joint_Replacement_SON_07.25.19.pdf

1305M319QNWWG0004 Attachment 1 WSR-88D AZ ROTARY JOINT REPLACEMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

The Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service (NWS), Radar Operations Center (ROC) manages the Next- Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) network high-resolution Weather Search Radar – 88 Doppler (WSR-88D). The radars are located throughout the Continental United States (CONUS), and in select Outside of the Continental United states (OCONUS) locations. The NEXRAD are operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U. S. Air Force (USAF). NEXRAD detects weather events and is the primary detection system used by the NWS to support issuance of severe weather warnings, and is used by the FAA and USAF to support safety of flight operations. There are currently 159 NEXRAD radars support weather operations and several support systems used for development and other system life cycle functions.

2. BACKGROUND

The current azimuth rotary joint design was introduced as part of the implementation of the dual polarized radar modification on all 160 WSR-88D (NEXRAD) radars operated by the NWS, DOD, and FAA. The current rotary joint design does not meet WSR-88D specifications for performance or reliability. Rotary joint failure symptoms/causes include missing wedges of data associated with its IF channels (Ch.3 and Ch.4), excessive air leaks associated with the use on non-airtight N-Type connectors, temperature sensitivity in the main stator rotor seal resulting in increased leakage in cold weather, and failure of various bearing assemblies attributed to heat-related hardening of bearing grease.

The NEXRAD program operates under a congressional mandate to maintain a service availability of at least 96.9% across the entire radar network. The failure of individual components critical to the function of the radar seriously impacts our ability to meet this requirement. The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of the AZ Rotary Joint is specified to be 200,000 hours. This MTBF translates to approximately 5 failures/year. The MTBF achieved is well below that required. (See Figure 1 for failure trends.)

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The overall objective of this effort is to completely replace the existing inventory with a more robust design that meets or exceeds all WSR-88D specifications. This can be accomplished in one of two ways; (1) re-design of the existing rotary joint, or (2) introduction of a Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) or modified COTS design.

This contract will be executed in three phases as described below:

CLIN 0001: First Article - Prototype Delivery. The contractor shall deliver a working prototype of the proposed design along with appropriate documentation describing proposed changes to the existing rotary joint design and/or modifications to the COTS design in order to make it NEXRAD compliant. Appropriate documentation includes detailed description of any new components introduced; vendor and part numbers for commercial components, or complete design disclosure for fabricated components. If a COTS design is proposed, no documentation is required. If a modified COTS design is proposed, the modifications must be fully specified in a design disclosure. The prototype unit will be delivered to the Government and tested in accordance with a test plan in order to evaluate the performance level of the prototype as compared to WSR-88D specifications. If required, the Government will provide a maximum of two AZ Rotary Joints of the existing design as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) to undergo design analysis, testing, and modification by the contractor. Only one of the two units is required to be modified prior to delivery to the Government for test and evaluation.

Figure 1: Az Rotary Joint Failures/FY

CLIN 1001: Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). The contractor(s) shall deliver to the Government a quantity of 6 AZ Rotary Joints of the proposed design. The Government shall install up to 5 units in operational WSR-88D radars in order to observe performance and demonstrate design robustness. The LRIP units will be evaluated over a period of 8 months. Data will be collected from these radars in order to characterize the operational performance of each LRIP unit installed. Robustness will be evaluated as no performance degradation over the observation period; mechanical or electrical. The sixth unit delivered will be a spare to replace a single unit that experiences a failure. Any failed units will be returned to the contractor for failure analysis.

CLIN 1002: Full Production Units. For COTS or modified COTS designs, the contractor shall deliver a quantity of 220 units of the same configuration that was tested and provided in CLIN 1001 with the exception of any changes approved by the Government. These 220 units will be placed into spares as “stock” at the National Logistic Support Center (NLSC) and issued as replacement units for any failed units of the original design. Following this initial delivery, the contractor shall deliver units to the Government at the contractor’s proposed production rate (of at least 10 units/month) until the entire quantity of 220 units has been delivered.

For units that are modified versions of the current design, the contractor will receive a quantity of azimuth rotary joints (as GFE) of the current design to be modified and delivered back to the Government. As with the COTS units, these initial modified units will be placed into spares stock at the (NLSC). As units of the current configuration fail, they will be replaced with units of the modified design, and the failed units will be provided to the contractor for modification and re-delivery to the Government. This round-robin process will continue until all legacy units have been replaced by re-designed units.

Certificate of Conformance. Each unit delivered to the Government shall be accompanied by a Certificate of Conformance (CofC) that documents all test results that support the conclusion that the delivered units is in compliance with all appropriate specifications.

Packaging and Marking of Deliverable. All items delivered to the NLSC shall be packaged and marked in accordance with instructions provided as Attachment 2.

Alternate Part Numbers. If modified versions of the current rotary joint are delivered, the part number on the unit and all packaging shall be altered by adding a “-1” to the existing part number to distinguish the unit from an unmodified unit.

4. SCHEDULE OF CONTRACT ACTIVITIES

A draft schedule of contract activities is provided as Figure 2 below. The schedule is a notional schedule only. The schedule assumes a 5 day work week, so 40 days is essentially 2 months, 180 days is essentially 9 months, etc.

5. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED INFORMATION (GFI)

The current Azimuth Rotary Joint design is considered proprietary by the OEM although it was developed specifically for use in the WSR-88D radar under contract to the Government.

Accordingly, the Government does not possess a complete drawing and documentation package for this design. The Government will provide a document describing the Azimuth Rotary Joint’s Form, Fit, and Function and any Government held system documentation requested by the contractor (Exhibit 1).

Task Name Duration Calendar Days

Award CLIN 0001 Prototype 0 Deliver First Article/Prototype 60 Installation of First Article/Prototype 20 Government Test First Article/Prototype 90 Gov't Evaluation of Results 20 Award CLIN 1001 LRIP 0 Deliver LRIP Units 60 Deploy LRIPs 40 Operational Test Period 240 Gov't Evaluation of Results 20 Award CLIN 1002 Full Production 30 Build/Modify First 20 units 120 Deliver First 20 units 0 Production of 20 units @ 10 per month 400

Figure 2: Notional Contract Schedule

6. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT (GFE)

In support of CLIN 0001, 2 new Azimuth Rotary Joints of the existing configuration will be provided to offerors proposing to modify the current design.

In support of CLIN 1001, 2 new Azimuth Rotary Joints of the existing configuration will be provided to offerors proposing to modify the current design.

In support of CLIN 1002, for offerors proposing to modify the current design, one Azimuth Rotary Joints of the existing configuration will be provided as GFE for each modified Azimuth Rotary Joint ordered under the contract. The units provided may not meet all WSR-88D requirements upon delivery.

GFE will not be provided to offerors delivering COTS or a modified COTS design(s) under this contract.