FOIL Sources Sought 693JJ3-25-SS-0005.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE MARKET RESEARCH

for

Advanced Crash Analysis Technical Support Services

693JJ3-25-SS-0005

a) SUBMITTAL INFORMATION

ISSUE DATE: 2/5/2025

DUE DATE FOR RESPONSES: 2/26/2025, 12:00 PM (NOON) Eastern Daylight Time

SUBMIT RESPONSES TO: Amalia Rodezno, Amalia.Rodezno@dot.gov and Rochelle Infante, Rochelle.Infante@dot.gov

See below Section 5 entitled “REQUESTED CONTENT OF RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT (SS)” for submittal content instructions.

b) INTRODUCTION

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT (SS) notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is conducting a market survey to identify potential sources for an anticipated contract to establish and implement the Advanced Crash Analysis Technical Support Services. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information for planning purposes regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources to perform the work.

Pursuant to 48 C.F.R. Part 10, the Government is conducting market research to:

• Determine what sources exist that are capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements listed below,

• Determine the capabilities of potential contractors,

• Determine the size and status of potential sources, and

• Determine the level of competition (i.e., 8(a), set-aside or full and open).

This SS is issued solely for informational, market research, and planning purposes and does not commit the Government to any further contract actions, i.e., solicitation and/or contract.

Respondents are advised that the United States Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in responding to this SS request. Not responding to this SS does not preclude participation in any future Request for Proposals (RFP) that may be issued. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S Government to form a binding contract.

c) BACKGROUND

The purpose for this SS is to conduct market research to identify potential offerors having an interest in performing the work, and the resources required to accomplish the work described herein. Consideration will be given to small business concerns, including the sub-categories of mailto:Amalia.Rodezno@dot.gov mailto:Rochelle.Infante@dot.gov

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), 8(a), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) and woman-owned as well as identifying Best in Class and Spend Under Management solutions as identified in OMB Memorandum M-19-13 and subsequent memos. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement.

This document contains a draft scope of work (Section 4 below). Your firm’s response regarding your firm’s experience and capabilities will be used to determine the availability of potential businesses, both large and small, and their capabilities in meeting the Government’s requirement.

Through this SS notice, FHWA is seeking not only to identify potential sources for an anticipated contract but also to solicit feedback on the draft Scope of Work (SOW) itself, including on the content of the tasks.

d) DRAFT SCOPE OF WORK

The proposed NAICS code for this requirement is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). The product service code for this requirement is AJ14 General Science and Technology R&D Services;

General science and technology; R&D Administrative Expenses.

C.1 BACKGROUND

The Advanced Crash Analysis Program primarily supports the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) strategic goal to reduce fatalities and injuries on the Nation’s roadways, but also serves to enhance efforts to improve safety worldwide. The missions of the Advanced Crash Analysis Program include:

• improving safety by expanding researchers’ knowledge about crashes;

• developing and sharing the detailed vehicle and hardware models; and

• leading efforts to apply computer simulation tools to enable researchers to study the complex interactions associated with crashes.

The resources at the Advanced Crash Analysis Program help researchers quantify and understand the crash performance of vehicles, the effects of a vehicle’s performance on drivers and passengers, and the compatibility of vehicles with each other and with roadside hardware during crashes. Using the data and information collected by the Advanced Crash Analysis Program, researchers can optimize the safety of vehicle and hardware designs, formulate guidelines for more effective deployment of safety features, and develop innovative safety treatments to avoid crashes or minimize the impact of crashes. Similarly, the Advanced Crash Analysis Program serves to apply advanced crash analysis technologies to improve the physical security of facilities, particularly related to threats posed by vehicle impacts.

The Advanced Crash Analysis Program’s mission supports the USDOT goals by expanding the knowledge of the causes of crashes, advancing the use of crash simulations for the analysis of problems, and applying these to develop novel solutions. This may involve efforts to adapt approaches used in other fields or forming new partnerships to expand the capabilities in the application of advanced crash analyses.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/M-19-13.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/M-19-13.pdf

The Advanced Crash Analysis Program has compiled a long list of achievements. These include:

• The development of detailed finite elements (FE) models for more than a dozen passenger cars, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), or pick-up trucks. These can all be used for simulation of frontal crashes and many can be used for side-impact analyses;

• The development of FE models to single-unit trucks and a tractor-trailer combination;

• The development of FE models for guardrails, concrete safety shapes, transitions, end treatments, sign supports, breakaway devices, cable barriers, mailboxes, and other roadside hardware;

• The application of the FE models in crash simulation software for the analyses of vehicle to barriers or roadside hardware crashes as well as vehicle-to-vehicle crashes;

• The establishment of a website for convenient dissemination of these models to other researchers. Much of the crash simulation work around the world use models developed under contract for Federal Highway Administration / National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (FHWA/NHTSA);

• The improvement of the techniques and internal material models for crash simulations using LS DYNA(General-purpose finite element program capable of simulating complex real world problems. It is used by the automobile, aerospace, construction, military, manufacturing, and bioengineering industries);

• The establishment of protocols for model validation using full scale crash tests;

• The operation of the FHWA Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory (FOIL) located in

McLean, VA to capture crash performance measures to enhance models or validate them;

• Addressing security needs by using models to develop various anti-ram barriers; and

• Conducting numerous workshops and seminars to exchange ideas and develop consensus on crash analysis methods.

Acronyms:

AASHTO: American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials ACAP: Advanced Crash Analysis Program CDC: Center for Disease Control COE: Centers of Excellence CO: Contracting Officer COR: Contacting Officers Representative DOS: Department of State FE: Finite Element FOIL: Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory LS Dyna: General-purpose finite element program capable of simulating complex real world problems. It is used by the automobile, aerospace, construction, military, manufacturing, and bioengineering industries.

NASS: National Accident Sampling System NCAC: Prior to about 2008, FHWA research activities in the subject research areas were conducted under the name NCAC. Since then the activities have been conducted as part of the “Advanced Crash Analysis Program” (ACAP) program. This change resulted from an increase in the breadth of the program with revised emphasis on certain areas and new approaches to managing the program.

NHTSA: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

TFHRC: Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center TRB: Transportation Research Board

C.2 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this contract are:

• To provide non-personal technical support services on an as needed basis; and

• To develop and promote knowledge and technologies for advanced crash analyses to improve highway and vehicle safety and infrastructure security.

Achieving these objectives will involve the following activities:

o Conducting advanced crash research to assist researchers and engineers in resolving transportation safety and security issues;

o Applying advanced research methods and techniques for the development and evaluation of vehicles, road features and hardware, and infrastructure protection systems to improve safety and security;

o Advancing the state-of-the-art in crash analysis methods and technologies;

o Analyzing crash and impact testing results to validate computer models and produce relevant data for crash analysis to improve highway and vehicle safety and physical security;

o Disseminating the findings of the research and the applications of the advanced technologies to foster increases in data and knowledge and the application of improved tools for addressing safety and security issues; and

Supporting multifaceted information sharing and educational opportunities to practitioners, students, decision makers and others to enhance awareness of safety and security issues and advanced means to develop and deploy means to mitigate them.

C.3 SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor must furnish non-personal technical support services to perform the activities described herein under this contract entitled, “Advanced Crash Analysis Technical Support Services.”

The Contractor must furnish technical crash analysis and transportation engineering research support services in support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Safety, Research and Development (HRDS), Roadway Departure Team, at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC).

The scope of this contract includes the following:

• The Contractor must conduct fundamental and applied research in support of the missions of the FHWA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of State (DOS), and potentially other Government agencies.

• The Contractor must analyze technical, deployment, logistical, and administrative issues and provide technical advice, recommendations, and technical support to the FHWA.

• The Contractor must develop and apply modeling and other analytical techniques, which may involve considerations of all types of vehicles, different roadway and roadside conditions, varying impact conditions (e.g., speed and angle of crash), and various occupants.

• The Contractor must support and coordinate programs and activities related to the following:

o Developing Finite Element (FE) models, crash simulations, and other simulation techniques to analyze the potentials for new design concepts for safety hardware;

o Product engineering;

o Conducting field tests and evaluations;

o Marketing; and o Delivering safety products and technologies.

C.4 TASK AREA REQUIREMENTS

C.4.1 TASK ORDER SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

When ordered, the Contractor must provide the necessary personnel, material, equipment, services and facilities to perform the requirements in this work statement. Individual task orders will be managed, monitored and evaluated by the federal employee assigned by the office requiring support services.

Task areas are summarized below:

Task Area A: Crash Modeling and Simulation A-1: Develop, Validate, and Maintain Finite Element (FE) Models of Vehicles and Hardware A-2: Advancement of Modeling and Analysis Strategies and Techniques A-3: Research Reporting, Information Sharing, and Collaboration

Task Area B: Modeling/Simulation of Vehicle and Occupant Safety B-1: Apply Models & Simulation for the Analyzing Vehicle Safety B-2: Conduct Investigations into Occupant Risks

Task Area C: Analyze and Develop Systems for Physical Protection and Security

Task Area D: Crash Data Analysis D-1: Conduct Detailed Analyses of Highway & Roadside Crashes D-2: Detailed Analyses of Crash Data

C.4.2 THE CONTRACTOR MUST CONDUCT CRASH MODELING AND SIMULATION (TASK

AREA A).

C.4.2.1 THE CONTRACTOR MUST DEVELOP, VALIDATE, AND MAINTAIN FINITE

ELEMENT (FE) MODELS OF VEHICLES AND HARDWARE

(TASK AREA A-1).

The Contractor must develop, validate, and maintain FE models of vehicles, roadside hardware, other roadway elements, and various physical security barriers. These efforts must involve building increasingly more detailed models, i.e., recent FE vehicle models have had from 800,000 to one million elements. These will include effective representations of active components (e.g., steering and suspension systems) with appropriate characterizations of the material properties and contact surface interactions for all elements.

The Contractor must build FE models for use with LS Dyna software to facilitate comparison with previously generated results. The Contractor must undertake model building in a manner that will provide the opportunities for varied applications of the models over time. This implies a strong need for effective documentation of the models and a process for continual improvement of the models. The Contractor must support an on-line database (i.e., website) to make all Government-furnished models (developed under previous awards) as well as new models available to potential users.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

1. Model Development - The Contractor must develop several new vehicle and hardware FE models.

The Contractor must provide solid capabilities in reverse engineering of vehicles using methods that allow accurate but rapid capture of element geometries and connection details. The Contractor must implement strategies that will allow the reverse engineering process to support various applications of the models (e.g., frontal and side impacts with other vehicles and oblique impacts into roadside barriers). The Contractor must conduct material testing of samples from the reverse engineering process, component testing, non-destructive tests, comparisons of results from full-scale crash tests, and other efforts to validate the models.

2. Model Verification & Validation – The Contractor must validate the FE models to the levels required in task order(s). This validation is essential to the credibility of the crash simulation results derived from the application of the FE models. The Contractor must update FE models to ensure that they are in compliance with any FHWA procedures that may be adopted during this contract.

3. Strategic Reduction of Models – Efforts to develop detailed vehicle models have been shown to increase the breadth of applications of the models. The Contractor must undertake efforts to create strategically reduced models for special applications. These models must be created by merging elements from areas of detailed models in a manner that will reduce the number of elements the computer has to process for each time steps while leaving sufficient detail for the type of crash being analyzed (e.g., for oblique impacts into roadside barriers only the front right quadrant of the vehicle needs to be represented by small elements while the rest can be merged to form larger elements).

4. Model Documentation – The Contractor must provide complete documentation of the structure, element characteristics, contacts, materials properties, specification of the LS Dyna functions used, and modeling assumptions for each newly developed model.

5. Model Maintenance and Support - The Contractor must provide on-going maintenance for those previously developed models as well as any new models developed under this or other FHWA/NHTSA/DOS contracts. The support must include effort, as directed by the COR, toward resolving problems discovered in new applications or enhancing models. The Contractor must update documentation and post revised versions of the models as needed.

C.4.2.2 THE CONTRACTOR MUST CONDUCT ADVANCEMENT OF MODELING AND

ANALYSIS STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES (TASK AREA A-2).

The Contractor must conduct research and technical support activities to support advancement of modeling and analysis strategies.

Note: Recent industry examples of advancements made by automotive manufactures and academia are listed below. These recent advancements provided useful insights on the safety performance in crash events and demonstrated new approaches that could be used by researchers and practitioners, but these approaches have yet to be widely applied.

• Apply “mesh-less modeling” methods to enhance the computer representation of soil materials;

• Use vehicle dynamics analysis to provide new insights on vehicle-to-barrier interfaces;

• Promote non-destructive tests of new FE models (e.g., bump and terrain response of vehicle suspension systems) for improved validation of model representation of these suspension systems;

• Material testing to understand the effects of cracks or tears in guardrails to understand their performance in secondary crashes.

The Contractor must conduct activities as needed to continue advancement of modeling, simulation, and analysis such as, for example, formulate viable modeling verification and validations procedures, test and analyze for the development of improved tire models (including side wall friction and response), develop applications of tractor-trailer models in crash investigations, perform investigations to establish a generic means to assess vehicle-to-hardware compatibility, develop new materials models, enhance material failure models (e.g., crack propagation), develop applications of motorcycle models, and formulate methods to incorporate optimization into crash analyses.

C.4.2.3 THE CONTRACTOR MUST PERFORM RESEARCH REPORTING,

INFORMATION SHARING, AND COLLABORATION (TASK AREA A-3).

The Contractor must perform research reporting, information sharing, and collaboration. The Contractor must document the advanced crash analysis efforts under this contract. The Contractor must disseminate findings to a broad audience to increase awareness and understanding of crash events. All reports, presentation materials, and other documents produced under this contract must be Section 508 compliant.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

1. Preparation of technical reports, videos and animations with appropriate documentation of background, approach, assumptions, analysis plans, instrumentations, data gathered, interpretations, conclusions, and references. The Contractor must make use of the web for distribution of materials, as well as the application of emerging technologies.

2. Generation of technical and executive summaries, topical articles, program summaries, presentations, and research papers associated with each of the research efforts undertaken.

3. Maintenance of a website for sharing data and providing access to the materials generated under this contract.

4. Formulation and delivery of information sharing programs including those to support AASHTO, TRB, and other groups.

5. Provision of support for Pooled Fund Studies and other efforts aimed at reducing the number and severity of road departure crashes.

6. Provision of support for visiting scholars, industry information sharing, workshops, and other programs aimed at promoting both the results from advanced crash analyses and the increased application of the methods and models in both private and public sectors (e.g., increased efforts to publish within the Society of Automotive Engineers).

7. Provision of support for interaction in international forums, support for visiting scholars, and conduct of demonstration projects to advance the state-of-the-art.

C.4.3 THE CONTRACTOR MUST CONDUCT MODELING/SIMULATION OF VEHICLE

AND OCCUPANT SAFETY (TASK AREA B).

C.4.3.1 THE CONTRACTOR MUST APPLY MODELS AND SIMULATION FOR

ANALYZING VEHICLE SAFETY (TASK AREA B-1).

In the past, NHTSA and FHWA have supported research that has addressed a range of issues related to vehicle and occupant safety using advanced crash analysis. These efforts have included studies of vehicle-to-vehicle crash compatibility, developing protocols for testing under the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), the analysis of crash forces on occupants, and the assessment of the effectiveness of air bags and child safety seats. The Contractor must conduct activities to continue to address these and similar issues.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

1. Synthesis of past research - New research efforts must start with an effort to synthesize past efforts and findings to serve as a basis for approaching the problem, providing validation data, and focusing on critical aspects.

2. Development of analysis and testing plans - A plan must be generated that will describe the scope of each research effort, the factors to be considered, the associated measures, and the planned approach. This plan must ensure a systematic effort that leads to useful results. Revisions to the plan may be appropriate when preliminary results differ from expectations.

3. Analyses using appropriate methods and software tools-Perform vehicle crash analysis applying FE models and crash simulation software to provide a detailed representation of a crash event. The FE models can be applied in many ways and, based upon the nature of crash evaluation needed, varying types of measurement and analyses may be needed. An example of this is recent work that has involved efforts to understand the vehicle to barrier interface on sloped terrain to assess its effectiveness in catching an errant vehicle.

This required adding accelerometers to measure vertical displacement of the vehicle’s suspension (on both test vehicles and the modeled versions) as well as the use of special formulations of graphics software to generate traces of the vertical displacements of suspension components and the bumper relative to the barrier. Measurements of yaw, pitch, and roll are common in the analyses, but new crashworthiness standards may require other measurements. The Contractor must have the ability to conduct required measures needed for any type of crash analysis;

4. Data analysis and interpretation - The Contractor must weigh effectiveness against

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), or other measures.

5. Documentation - The Contractor must provide documentation of efforts and information sharing materials.

Notes to Offerors:

• Past NHTSA efforts in this area have involved working with the auto industry, other academic institutions, and hospital trauma centers in the analyses of occupant trauma resulting from crashes.

• Efforts to analyze the compatibility between vehicles and roadside hardware and to improve the evaluation of occupant risk to highway and roadside crashes are expected.

C.4.3.2 THE CONTRACTOR SHALL CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS INTO OCCUPANT

RISKS (TASK AREA B-2).

The Contractor must provide biomechanical and vehicle systems engineering services in support of medical injury research teams designated by the FHWA and NHTSA. The work must include crash simulation modeling, accident data and film analysis, and the creation of reports summarizing crash injury investigations from the files of the hospital-based studies, the NASS/CDS and the NHTSA special accident investigation studies.

The Contractor must undertake occupant risk analyses of vehicle designs, restraint systems, and/or highway safety improvements. In addition, the Contractor must provide studies to explore vehicle safety performance (e.g., crush zone functionality, restraint system deployment) and the resulting injuries that occur in the elements of the fleet as specified.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

1. Synthesizing past efforts and findings - New research efforts must start with an effort to synthesize past efforts and findings to serve as a basis for approaching the problem, providing validation data, and focusing on critical aspects;

2. Developing analysis and testing plans - A plan must be generated that must describe the scope of each research effort, the factors to be considered, the associated measures, and the planned approach. This plan must ensure a systematic effort that leads to useful results. Revisions to the plan may be appropriate when preliminary results differ from expectations;

3. Applying multi-body models and crash simulation software to quantify forces imposed on vehicle occupants in crashes;

4. Generating data and summaries reflecting the findings; and

5. Documenting efforts and the preparation of information sharing materials.

Notes to Offerors:

• The current FE models library includes models of anthropomorphic dummies and the human body and specific parts from past crash analyses.

• Some of the vehicle models in the array include details for interior elements making them particularly suitable for occupant risk analyses.

• Recent efforts have led to the development of models for various test sleds and test protocols for using them (e.g., Takata sled) that will be available for future occupant risk analyses.

C.4.4 THE CONTRACTOR MUST ANALYZE AND DEVELOP SYSTEMS FOR

PHYSICAL PROTECTION AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY (TASK AREA C).

The Contractor must undertake analyses and testing to develop and evaluate systems for physical protection and security of the infrastructure. The process involves the use of FE models and crash simulation to evaluate existing barrier designs, evaluate improvement options, develop and assess new concepts, plan validation tests, and/or determine feasibility in specific applications. The Contractor must conduct tests as necessary to validate the results of the advanced analysis. The tests must be conducted in conformance with DOS and American Standards for Testing & Materials (ASTM) [www.astm.org] standards. The Contractor must support or perform impact tests with trucks at various speeds. The Contractor must oversee the construction of barriers for the tests.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

1. Synthesizing past efforts and findings - New research efforts must start with an effort to synthesize past efforts and findings to serve as a basis for approaching the problem, providing validation data, and focusing on critical aspects;

2. Developing analysis and testing plans that reflect the range of conditions that infrastructure protection must function to provide strong assurances of effectiveness;

3. Applying FE models, crash simulation and/or vehicle dynamics software; to evaluate existing forms of infrastructure protection, and/or developing concepts for innovative designs. Past efforts have looked at bollards, knee walls, super fences, street planters, cable fences, and other types of barriers

4. Generating data and summaries reflecting the findings; and

5. Documenting efforts.

C.4.5 THE CONTRACTOR MUST CONDUCT CRASH DATA ANALYSIS (TASK AREA

D).

C.4.5.1 THE CONTRACTOR MUST CONDUCT DETAILED ANALYSES OF HIGHWAY

& ROADSIDE CRASHES (TASK AREA D-1).

The application of crash analysis models and software has been shown to be useful in the analysis of roadside crashes and the development of improved roadside features. These models range from the early impact tools (e.g., Guard, Barrier VII) to modern, detailed analytic methods and http://www.astm.org/ commercially available software (e.g., LS Dyna, CarSim). Over the last five years FHWA-supported research has made use of LS Dyna (from LSTC Corporation, Livermore, CA), HVE vehicle dynamics software (from Engineering Dynamics Corporation, Beaverton, OR), and other software to study the safety performance of portable concrete barriers, sign supports, breakaway poles and structures, mailboxes, w-beam guardrails, cable median barriers, and other common roadside hardware. These efforts have been geared towards developing deeper insight into the performance of these devices, recommending modifications to improve the performance, and/or assessing criteria for evaluating them. These have led to the compilation of an archive of hardware models, considerable amounts of performance data, improvements in hardware design, and better guidance for the design and placement of roadside safety hardware.

The Contractor must apply these various analytical tools or variations of them (e.g., crash simulation, vehicle dynamics) or new tools for the analysis of roadside crashes. The Contractor may be tasked to conduct analyses by the State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to analyze difficult roadside crash issues they face (e.g., a past effort used models to analyze rear-end impacts of w-beam guardrail in search of explanations for an unusual multi-fatality crash.) Directives to conduct any such analyses will be provided by the COR.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

1. Synthesis of past research – New research efforts should start with an effort to synthesize past efforts and findings to serve as a basis for approaching the problem, providing validation data, and focusing on critical aspects.

2. Development of analysis and testing plans – A plan must be generated that will describe the scope of each research effort, the factors to be considered, the associated measures, and the planned approach. This plan must ensure a systematic effort that leads to useful results.

Revisions to the plan may be appropriate when preliminary results differ from expectations.

3. Conducting analyses using appropriate methods and software tools. A considerable amount of the roadside crash analysis involves applying FE models and crash simulation software to provide a detailed representation of a crash event. Other software, such as vehicle dynamics tools, have been shown to provide important insights in less time. The Contractor must propose the tools and the manner in which they will be applied and then prepare the necessary inputs to execute them.

4. Data analysis and interpretation – Various software tools can be useful for generating data for the crash scenarios being analyzed, but summarizing the data and effectively presenting and comparing data are a challenge that must be addressed by the Contractor. Assessments made under this task area must be consistent with accepted crashworthiness practices and use appropriate measures of performance.

5. Documentation – The Contractor must provide documentation of efforts and information sharing materials.

Notes to Offerors:

• The models and data used in past analysis efforts are considered to provide a basis for future applications. For example, the model of w-beam guard rails was initially developed to show that it was possible to study specific design features (e.g., routed vs. non-routed block-outs), but it has served as the basis for studies of backside hits, guardrail height issues, and the development of new forms of guardrail.

• The FHWA has a vision that the application of the crash simulation can expand the evaluation of crashworthiness over a greater range of vehicle types, placement, terrain, and impact conditions.

• It is expected that analyses will make use of available knowledge of roadside safety hardware and its evolution including the crashworthiness standards and crash testing requirements that were used to assess performance.

• Interaction with the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and other groups addressing roadside safety issues should be considered a vital part of these efforts to disseminate findings and solicit feedback.

C.4.5.2 THE CONTRACTOR MUST CONDUCT DETAILED ANALYSES OF CRASH

DATA (TASK AREA D-2).

The collection and analysis of detailed crash data from police reports, DOT highway inventories, maintenance records, hospital records, and other sources is an important aspect in understanding crash events and finding effective means to mitigate them. Prior analyses have included investigations of motorcycle crashes into barriers, low-velocity change, oblique angle vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, trauma to child occupants by seating position, and correlations of vehicle frontal stiffness to crash severity. These efforts have involved in-depth, clinical analysis of the data, as well as the linkages to results from modeling of similar crashes. The Contractor must provide the capabilities to undertake such studies as the needs are identified.

The Contractor must undertake various longitudinal and clinical analyses to expand the insights on crashes, and to enhance the familiarity with these resources. Other such data sets or analyses may be defined in task orders issued under this contract.

The following lists examples of the type of work related to this task area. The list is not all inclusive:

Task Orders issued under Task Area D-2 may involve effort related to:

1. Synthesizing past efforts and findings for the topic under study - New research efforts should start with an effort to synthesize past efforts and findings to serve as a basis for approaching the problem, providing validation data, and focusing on critical aspects.

2. Developing hypotheses, data acquisition and linkage, and analysis plans; such plans must reflect the findings of past efforts and the needs of the study.

3. Conduct research through the use of various data sources including Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), General Estimates System (GES), National Accident Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS/CDS), police crash reports, Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), Minimum Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE), Crash Outcomes Data Evaluation System (CODES), and other collected data may be used in these efforts.

4. Applying appropriate statistical methods to determine correlations; trends, and/or significance with appropriate controls.

5. Generating data and summaries reflecting the findings; and

6. Documenting of efforts and the preparation of information sharing materials.

Notes to Offerors:

• Efforts under this task area may involve efforts to collect data from sources outside and/or in the field.

• Past efforts have involved linking empirical data to the data generated by crash simulations.

e) REQUESTED CONTENT OF RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT

NOTICE

This Sources Sought Notice is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract or cooperative agreement nor does the Government intend to directly pay for any information or responses submitted as the result of this Sources Sought Notice. Interested parties who consider their firms qualified to perform the above-listed services are invited to submit responses to this Sources Sought.

Format requirements are:

• Electronic responses only. No hard copy submissions will be accepted.

• 8.5”x11” size pages, with 1” margins on all sides and prepared in Microsoft Word or

PDF format.

• Submissions shall include a cover page as described below.

• Not more than 15 pages in length, including all items submitted (cover page, table of contents, acronym list, graphs and technical information, and any other documentation).

• Font size should be 12 point or larger, Times New Roman.

• Proprietary information submitted in response to this SOURCES SOUGHT will be protected from unauthorized disclosure as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as long as it is marked accordingly. All proprietary markings should be clearly delineated. The respondent must identify where data is restricted by proprietary or other rights and mark it accordingly.

• The services and/or any product solutions should include supporting data/rationale for the offered services, and any product solution(s) if applicable, adequately to determine capability.

The SS Response must include:

(1) Cover Page: The cover page should contain at a minimum the following information:

• Company name

• Primary Point of Contact, including phone number and email address

• SAM.GOV Unique Entity ID (UEI)

• NAICS Code – a statement on whether your firm believes 541715 is an appropriate

NAICS for these services as well as a list of any other NAICS codes that you think could be applicable.

• General Services Administration (GSA) Contract Number and SIN, if applicable.

• Other Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts available for DOT use, if applicable

• Business Size: identify all applicable classifications for your organization under NAICS

541715 as well as any other NAICS identified for this work. Please note if certain classifications only apply to certain contract vehicles.

- Small business?

- Woman-owned business?

- 8(a) business?

- Small disadvantaged business?

- HUBZone business?

- SDVOB business?

- Non-profit?

- Other relevant business type information

(2) Technical Ability: This section must describe your ability to provide the services and/or any product solution(s) described in Section 4 of this Sources Sought. The response should include an overall description of the proposed services and/or any product solution(s); synopsis of experience and expertise of potential staff, including relevant projects completed related to the anticipated objectives of the project with information on the client and scope. You should also note if you would plan to use subcontractors or consultants to meet the requirements.

Interested parties should also describe technical benefits of their proposed services in terms of existing technologies or resources, cost efficiencies of their specific approach, and any other support capabilities that provide service and/or product excellence or uniqueness, such as Performance-Based solutions.

Note: Responses may include links or web addresses that demonstrate evidence of your technical expertise (i.e., final reports, technical journals, peer reviewed papers, etc.).

To support the Government’s review of the Contractor’s technical ability, the following questions should be directly addressed with regard to both the responding business entity and proposed personnel:

a) What experience do you have with operating and maintaining laboratories and/or testing facilities?

b) What is your experience in developing and implementing roadside hardware testing procedures?

c) What is your level of expertise with regard to the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) and ASTM F2656-23 (ASTM F2656-23 Standard Test Method for Crash Testing of Vehicle Security Barriers) testing standards?

d) What experience do you have developing documentation such as training materials for federal programs?

e) What is your level of knowledge of policies and practices for developing and testing roadside hardware to meet MASH?

f) What is your experience with the development of finite element models to be used in dynamic impacts such as the prediction of vehicle crash outcomes?

g) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

PARTICIPATION IN THE MARKET RESEARCH IN NO WAY INFLUENCES THE

SOURCE SELECTION FOR THESE SERVICES. This Sources Sought is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract or cooperative agreement, nor does the Government intend to directly pay for any information or responses submitted as the result of this Sources Sought Notice.

To fully comprehend the information contained within a response to this SOURCES SOUGHT, there may be a need to seek further clarification from respondents. This clarification may be requested in the form of brief verbal communication by telephone; written communication;

electronic communication; or a request for a presentation of the response to a specific FHWA group or groups. FHWA reserves the right to seek additional information from respondents identified with unique solutions that are determined to be beneficial to FHWA.