BAA-RQKPD-2015-0001-NOCA-Call1.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

NR: BAA-RQKPD-2015-0001 Call#1

CERTIFICATION OF COMPOSITES – COMPOSITE AIRFRAME LIFE EXTENSION

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE: CERTIFICATION OF COMPOSITES –

COMPOSITE AIRFRAME LIFE EXTENSION

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: This is Call #1 to the Open Broad Agency

Announcement

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: BAA-RQKPD-2015-0001 Call#1

AMENDMENT TOPIC TITLE: “DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRESSIVE

DAMAGE ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURES”

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, 2130 8 th

St., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7801

BACKGROUND

This is a NOCA informing potential offerors of the upcoming first Call for the “Certification of

Composites – Composite Airframe Life Extension” acquisition.

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 Air Force Research Laboratory intends to execute a technology development and demonstration initiative to reduce the scope of the technical effort required to establish the initial and the continuing airworthiness of airframe structure manufactured from advanced composite materials. The long term objective of this effort is to reduce the risk of implementing large scale, unitized composite structures in future airframes. The program will identify and select, develop, and demonstrate technology which will improve our ability to assess and predict, control and increase 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.

mailto:Pat.Marshall@wpafb.af.mil mailto:Pat.Marshall@wpafb.af.mil mailto:ryan.huffman@us.af.mil mailto:jennifer.kleiv.1@us.af.mil

Technologies of interest will reduce reliance on empirical methods for demonstrating design requirements have been exceeded, and will increase reliance on analytical 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, but without absolute reliance on mechanical fastening techniques.

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 or likely airworthiness of such structure, at any time.

The program will not attempt to make or promote changes in air vehicle structural integrity requirements, nor will it attempt or promote changes in certification standards. It may, however, produce technical data that would substantiate appropriate changes. Such technical data will be provided to appropriate airworthiness authorities for their review, and if appropriate, action.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this effort is to determine an appropriate set of experiments to provide the necessary model inputs to calibrate the parameters for the various classes of progressive damage analysis tools for predicting damage initiation and progression in laminated composite structures.

These differing methods require different initial properties and respond differently to calibration efforts. However, there is also some commonality between the models, some data needs are similar, some methods of determining failure are similar, etc. The Air Force would like to determine if “efficient sets” of both initial property and calibration tests can be performed to satisfy the needs of various classes, or collections, of PDA model approaches. In this usage, efficient should be interpreted from the perspective of data needs vs output accuracy and with respect to the time and cost of collecting the data set. The Air Force would then like to determine the feasibility of collecting these input and calibration datasets.

PROGRAMATIC

A Cost-Reimbursement/Fixed Fee contract type is contemplated with one $900,000 award for a

12 month effort. The anticipated amount is an estimate only and is NOT a promise of funding.

Funding is uncertain and is subject to change. Changes in availability occur at the discretion of the Government.

A one step process will be used for this solicitation. As such, a full technical and cost proposal will be requested from the upcoming BAA/SOO announcement.

DO NOT SUBMIT ANY DOCUMENTATION AT THIS TIME. THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR

WHITEPAPERS OR PROPOSALS. ANYTHING RECEIVED OTHER THAN CAGE CODE

AND BUSINESS SIZE WILL BE DISREGARDED.