BAA-RQKPD-2015-0001.doc

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

NR: BAA-RQKPD-2015-0001

COMPOSITE AIRFRAME LIFE EXTENSION

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE: CERTIFICATION OF COMPOSITES - COMPOSITE AIRFRAME LIFE EXTENSION BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Notice of Contract Action (NOCA)

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: BAA-RQKPD-2015-0001

AMENDMENT TOPIC TITLE: “CERTIFICATION OF COMPOSITES - COMPOSITE AIRFRAME LIFE EXTENSION” TECHNICAL POC: Dick Holzwarth, AFRL/RQVS, Phone 937-656-8825, email: richard.holzwarth.1@us.af.mil. Mailing address: 2790 D ST, B20065 R4THW, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433 CONTRACTING POC: Ryan Huffman, (Primary), Contract Negotiator, (937) 713-9927, email: ryan.huffman@us.af.mil; Jennifer Kleiv, (Secondary), Contracting Officer, (937) 713-9975, Email: jennifer.kleiv.1@us.af.mil. Mailing address: AFRL/RQKPD, Bldg 45, Area B, 2310 8th St., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7801

BACKGROUND:

This is a NOCA informing potential offerors of the “Certification of Composites – Composite Airframe Life Extension” acquisition. A BAA with Calls will be posted on FedBizOps in the near future. The overall acquisition will consist of the following:

The “next generation” of DoD tactical and mobility aircraft will have to meet very challenging goals for performance, affordability and economy of operation. The airframe weight reductions sought to achieve these goals will require revolutionary airframes implementing composite materials applied to structural concepts not in use in Air Force aircraft today. There are significant technical issues related to verifying the initial and continuing airworthiness of such structures are sufficient to meet the lifetime structural integrity requirements of the United States Air Force. Similar issues exist with respect to certification of composite structure for civilian aircraft.

The current generation of DoD tactical and mobility aircraft utilize composite materials as primary aircraft structure. The service history of these composite structures demonstrates they are sufficiently durable and damage tolerant that there are no significant maintenance concerns with respect to the design service life and usage/environment. But many of these aircraft are being used at a greater rate, in terms of missions, flight hours, and cycles than anticipated. There is a high likelihood that Air Force aircraft having significant advanced composite structures will have to undergo service life extension programs to meet future Air Force needs. To support the extended service life of composite airframe structures, the Air Force needs improved capability to predict the residual strength, durability, and damage tolerance of composite materials, and do so with less reliance on empirical testing. These improvements are also expected to be applicable to future aircraft design and certification efforts.

The Air Force Research Laboratory intends to execute a technology development and demonstration initiative to reduce the scope of the technical effort required to establish both the initial, and the continuing airworthiness of airframe structure manufactured from advanced composite materials. The program will identify and select, develop, and demonstrate technology which will improve our ability to assess and predict, and control the structural integrity of composite structure as a function of its constituent materials, configuration, features, and manufactured state, and as influenced by its known history and expected future service environment and loads.

Technologies of interest to this program will reduce reliance on empirical methods to demonstrate design requirements have been met. Technologies of interest will expand the use of analytical and numerical methods to assess the airworthiness of composite structure with respect to future, and perhaps unanticipated, usage requirements. Technologies of interest will provide Air Force airframe structural integrity experts with the capability to safely extend the service lives of existing composite airframes. Technologies of interest will allow airframe designers and airframe airworthiness experts to extend the principles of damage tolerant design to composite airframe structures which span the entire aircraft life cycle.

OBJECTIVE:

The overall intent of the program is to equip all those involved in the design, development, manufacture, maintenance, and management of composite airframe structure with better decision making information regarding the actual airworthiness of the structure, or the likely airworthiness of the structure in the future.

The Composite Airframe Life Extension (CALE) program will concentrate on identifying, developing, demonstrating and validating technology that will allow USAF airframe structural integrity managers to safely extend the certified service lives of airframes currently in the USAF fleet that contain advanced composite primary structure, without widespread replacement of aged structure with new, and without repeating an extensive, complex building block demonstration process. The CALE program will identify and develop technology to know and/or predict the residual strength, durability and damage tolerance, and reliability of advanced composite structure throughout the original, and if required new service life of the airframe.

In support of this objective, the CALE program has three mutually supportive Technical Goals:

Technical Goal 1: Increased use of progressive damage failure analysis methods for composite structures to predict the initiation and progression of damage in composite structures, coupled to damage tolerant design approaches for composite structures.

Technical Goal 2: More accurately predict the service life of composite airframe structures, including predicting residual strength as a function of age, environment, and service usage.

Technical Goal 3: Reduce reliance on empirical data and empirical testing during the design, development, and airworthiness verification of composite airframe structures, and reduce the scope, expense, time and risk of structural building block programs to ensure transition of advanced structural concepts.

The application of CALE technology to current USAF airframe requirements and structural issues will demonstrate the feasibility, capabilities, and technical readiness of critical concepts and processes. Validation of CALE-developed technology against the structural integrity requirements of the current fleet will provide USAF structural integrity managers the tools required to conduct Structural Life Extension Programs (SLEP) for airframes containing significant composite structure.

The technical tools, processes, and methods to provide this capability will also be useful to assess and verify the structural integrity and airworthiness of large-scale, more unitized composite structures envisioned for future aircraft.

PROGRAMATIC

Multiple Cost-Reimbursement/Fixed Fee contract types are contemplated with one award for each BAA Call for a total amount of $30,100,000 for a 36 month effort. The anticipated amount is an estimate for the total amount only and is NOT a promise of funding. The anticipated amount for each BAA Call is unavailable at this time. Funding is uncertain and is subject to change. Changes in availability occur at the discretion of the Government.

Either a one step process or a two-step process will be contemplated for the individual BAA Calls.

DO NOT SUBMIT ANY DOCUMENTATION AT THIS TIME.

THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR WHITE PAPERS OR PROPOSALS.

ANYTHING RECEIVED WILL BE DISREGARDED