BAART AFC JEFOP Fully Executed 8APR20.pdf

April 7, 2020

TO: 12/Research and Development Contracting Branch, Office of Procurement

Attn: Zachary M. Wright

FROM: 170/John C. Lin, Flow physics and Control Branch, Research Directorate

SUBJECT: Justification for Exception to the Fair Opportunity Process (JEFOP) for

New Task Order entitled “Low Speed Performance Enhancement using

Localized Active Flow Control” with Boeing on Contract NNL16AA04B, Total Estimated Cost for the work is $676,419.

In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2), the following information is provided to support this justification:

I. Recommendation

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) intends to initiate a new cost-plus-fixed fee (CPFF) task order (TO) with The Boeing Company (hereinafter referred to as “Boeing”) under the

Basic and Applied Aerospace Research and Technology (BAART) contract. The purpose of this new task order is to investigate and explore localized active flow control (AFC) concepts for aircraft performance enhancement during takeoff and landing as well as to estimate the associated system-level benefits and integration requirements. Specifically, higher aircraft lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) during takeoff can potentially affect engine rating, and thereby smaller engine core size, resulting in lower weight, reduced fuel consumption and emissions. The fuel-reduction objective fits well within the framework of the NASA Advanced Air Transport

Technology (AATT) Project which is seeking to demonstrate practical implementations of

AFC technology that can lead to reduction in fuel consumption and lower emission of modern commercial transport aircraft.

This task order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract. Boeing is the only source capable of performing the required effort based on its proprietary knowledge and experience with modern commercial transport’s high-lift system and AFC acquired from previous task orders. This new proposed task order builds upon past Boeing efforts as described in Section IV below.

Purchase Request (PR) 4200726874 has been generated to provide an initial incremental funding in the amount of $500,000 for this task order. The current contract period of performance is from the Task Order Award (TOA) date through October 29, 2021.

II. Background

The NASA AATT Project is seeking to demonstrate practical implementations of AFC technology that can lead to a reduction in fuel consumption, and lower emissions for modern commercial transport aircraft. One approach is to use localized AFC to enhance the performance of an aircraft’s high-lift system during takeoff and landing. As an example, an increase in an aircraft’s takeoff L/D can significantly improve its payload or range (American

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Paper 91-1527) and allow operations from shorter runways. Moreover, higher L/D can potentially affect engine rating, and thereby engine core size, resulting in lower weight, reduced fuel consumption and emissions. It is believed that localized AFC will have limited architectural impact on the aircraft, and therefore, it is a more practical implementation of flow control technology that can lead to near-term flight demonstrations. The successful demonstration of localized AFC for performance enhancement may lead to important ramifications for next generation airplanes from both economic and environmental perspectives.

III. Nature and/or Description of Required Supplies/Services

This proposed new task order titled “Low Speed Performance Enhancement using Localized

Active Flow Control” investigates localized AFC concepts for performance enhancement during takeoff and landing as well as estimates the associated system-level impact and integration requirements for practical high-lift applications on aircraft. The objectives of this task order are to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based analysis and system-level trade study to:

Determine the increase in aerodynamic performance that can be achieved by using localized AFC on a commercial transport aircraft during takeoff and/or landing.

Determine the amount of AFC input, (e.g., mass flow and pressure, electrical power, etc.)

and the type of actuation (e.g., constant blowing, pulsed jets, sweeping jets, etc.) required to achieve the increased high-lift aerodynamic performance.

Determine the architectural impact, (e.g., weight, packaging, etc.) and whether the required AFC input is within the available resources onboard.

Determine the net potential airplane performance benefit of using such a localized AFC system (e.g., increase in payload and/or range, use of lower-rated engines that potentially leads to reduced weight, fuel burn and emissions).

Gather experimental risk-reduction data for localized AFC via small-scale wind-tunnel tests to validate promising localized AFC concepts.

Develop localized AFC systems for aircraft high-lift applications that will be wind tunnel tested on the NASA 10% scale high-lift version of the Common Research Model (CRM-

HL), a relevant High-Lift geometry.

The total estimated value of this proposed new task order is approximately $676,419. This task order fits within the scope of the BAART contract Performance Work Statement under

Technical Tracks: A.2.1 Configuration Aerodynamics, A.2.2 Computational Modeling and

Simulation, A.2.3 Flow Physics and Control. Further, this proposed new task order falls within the BAART contract performance period, and within the maximum contract value.

IV. Identification of the Exception to Fair Opportunity and Supporting Rationale

FAR 16.505(b)(1)(i) requires the Contracting Officer provide each awardee under a multiple award contract, a fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding $3,500 unless a statutory exception applies. Specifically, the exception that precludes the fair opportunity process for this acquisition is FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), which states that “The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.”

The work in this proposed new task order builds upon extensive past efforts by Boeing on their AFC-enable high-lift concepts and system studies. Specifically, the AFC-enable high-lift concepts and system studies developed by Boeing under the prior, competitively awarded

SMAAART task order NNL13AB65T, and the sole source award to Boeing on SMAAART

Task Order NNL14AB98T and BAART Task Order NNL16AB02T. The first Task Order issued (NNL13AB65T) was competitively awarded to Boeing when no other sources responded to the Request for Proposal, due to the lack of capabilities to perform the work.

The following task orders (NNL14AB98T and NNL16AB02T) were awarded to Boeing with sole source justifications.

The previous tasks were on system studies of the AFC-enabled vertical tail (Task Order

NNL10AD24T) and of the AFC-enabled simplified high-lift system (Task Orders:

NNL13AB65T, NNL14AB98T, and NNL16AB02T). These tasks have similar aspects to the current task order in terms of aircraft platform (commercial transport aircraft) and the usage of AFC systems, but have different aerodynamic goals, system integration, and trade studies.

The current task is leveraging research completed under the previously listed task orders and is expanding the research of these prior tasks.

Boeing’s extensive experience with AFC system development for commercial transport under these previous task orders, positions them well to efficiently complete the requirements of the current task order. Since NASA has invested a substantial amount of money, time, and effort in the aforementioned contracts with Boeing, it is economically advantageous to award this task order to Boeing. If the task order was issued to a different contractor, they would be unfamiliar with our multi-year/multi-task developmental efforts that have occurred previously. Therefore, it is in the Government's best interest to award this task order to

Boeing. This task order is a logical follow-on to the previous tasks for the advancement of

AFC technology.

V. Determination by the Contracting Officer That the Anticipated Cost to the

Government Will Be Fair and Reasonable

The CPFF amount for this acquisition will be determined fair and reasonable by the

Contracting Officer prior to award of this proposed new task order. Actions anticipated to ensure reasonableness will be accomplished using the procedures and criteria contained in the

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), NASA FAR Supplement (NFS), and other regulatory documents as applicable. Detailed documentation and justification of reasonableness will be disclosed in the Price Negotiation Memorandum (PNM) which will be prepared using the evaluation of the Boeing quoted pricing, compared to the Independent Government Estimate

(IGE), and the pricing of previous similar efforts. Certified cost and pricing data will be obtained and used in determining a fair and reasonable cost.

VI. Other Facts Supporting the Justification

None.

VII. Actions the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to

Increasing Fair Opportunity Before Any Subsequent Acquisition For the

Supplies or Services

LaRC may have future requirements that will fall within an exception to the Fair Opportunity

Process. However, the Contracting Officer will continue to scrutinize all SOWs received to ensure fair opportunity is appropriately given. LaRC typically looks for proactive steps that can be taken to eliminate barriers to competition for future requirements. Because of the unique expertise and knowledge that the contractor possesses on modern commercial transport aircraft, it makes it difficult to compete amongst other vendors. Additionally, LaRC has no known future requirements for this technology at this time and lacks the ability to incentivize the other BAART contractors to invest the substantial sums that would be required to establish an alternate source for this service.

Technical Certification:

I certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the data furnished above is complete and accurate.

John C. Lin Date

Aerospace Engineer

Advanced Air Transport Technology Project

Contracting Officer Certification:

I certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the data furnished above is complete and accurate.

Zachary M. Wright Date

Contracting Officer

Determination:

Based upon my review of the above, I have determined the exception that precludes the fair opportunity process for this acquisition as stated in paragraph IV applies to this task order.

Zachary M. Wright Date

Contracting Officer