Thermal_Lab_Upgrade_-_JA-FINAL_Redacted_v1.pdf

“SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION – SEE FAR 2.101 and 3.104”

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER, AIRCRAFT DIVISION

21983 BUNDY ROAD, BLDG 441

PATUXENT RIVER, MD 20670-1127

J&A Number: 18-0109

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity

Naval Air Warfare Center – Aircraft Division, (NAWCAD), in support of the Thermal Laboratory

Upgrade and Capability Expansion.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

This Justification and Approval (J&A) authorizes and approves, on a sole source basis, the issuance of a Non-Competitive contract to TA Instruments for the purchase of a suite of thermal analysis equipment under a Firm Fixed Price contract vehicle. This contract will replace and expand existing capabilities in lab equipment for AIR-4.3.4.4, allowing the work force to certify key safety and performance parameters for materials designated for use in air vehicles.

3. Description of Supplies/Services

Under the proposed contract, the Contractor will provide AIR-4.3.4.4 with a suite of lab equipment that will include a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), Thermogravimetric

Analyzer with Mass Spectrometer (TGA-MS), Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA), Thermomechanical Analyzer (TMA), Simultaneous TGA/DSC (SDT), Rheometer, Vapor

Sorption Analyzer (VSA), and corresponding mechanical cooling units from:

TA Instruments – Waters, LLC

159 Lukens Drive

New Castle, DE 19720

Phone: (302) 427-4000

Fax: (302) 427-4001

NAWCAD Pax River (4.3.4.4) has a need to replace and expand the existing suite of thermal analysis equipment. The equipment being replaced was originally procured from TA

Instruments or its subsidiaries, and TA Instruments holds key patents used to measure safety and performance parameters within existing qualification plans of the US Navy. TA

Instruments can maintain compatibility of the new equipment with existing instrumentation across this and other DoD sites, and can ensure the seamless integration with existing data packages generated on previous generations of TA equipment.

The contractor shall provide a thermal analysis suite that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements shown in the specifications listed below:

(1) Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC)- Model Number DSC 2500

a. Heat flux unit capable of achieving a temperature range from -180 to 725 °C or better.

b. Must have temperature modulation capability to capture reversing and non-reversing heat flow events such as heat capacity/thermal conductivity.

c. Temperature and enthalpy calibration should be in accordance with ASTM or NIST certified standards.

d. Baseline flatness of ≤10 µW, repeatability of <10 µW or better.

e. Temperature accuracy of ±0.1 °C or better.

f. Temperature precision of ±0.05 °C or better.

g. Sensitivity of 0.2 µW or better.

h. Enthalpy precision of ±1% or better.

i. Auto-sampler accommodating 50 samples for automation or better.

j. Cell to be user replaceable.

k. Accommodate liquid nitrogen and mechanical cooling units.

l. Include mechanical cooling unit Discovery Refrigerated Cooling System - RCS120

(for DSC 2500) and applicable accessories to connect with the instrumentation.

(2) Thermogravimetric Analyzer – Discovery Mass Spectrometer (TGA-MS)- Model Number

TGA 5500

a. Capable of temperatures from ambient to 1,200 °C or better.

b. Linear heating rates from 0.1 to 500 °C/min or better.

c. Ballistic heating rates of 2,000 °C/min or better.

d. Furnace cooling from 1,200 to 35 °C in less than 10 min or better.

e. Sample weight range: 0 to 100 mg or better.

f. Temperature calibration should be in accordance with ASTM protocols via manufacturer or NIST certified standards.

g. Temperature accuracy of 1 °C or better.

h. The sensitivity of the balance shall be <0.1µg.

i. Auto-sampling to accommodate 25 samples or better.

j. Sealed pan kit for volatile or air/moisture sensitive materials

k. Accommodate vacuum TGA.

l. Support high resolution TGA.

m. Accommodate modulated TGA experiments.

n. Unit will also support gas switching experiments.

o. Unit will include Mass Spectrometer.

i. MS coupled via heated lines to avoid cold spots.

ii. MS scanning range of 1-300 amu or better.

iii. Sensitivity at ppm (part-per-million) level or better.

iv. MS scanning over mass range or user selected ion modes.

v. MS data collection synchronized with TGA data.

p. Switching between MS and vacuum system should be easily performed by user in a less than 4 hour time period.

(3) Thermomechanical Analyzer (TMA)- Model Number TMA Q400

a. Temperatures range from -150 to 1,000 °C or better.

b. Temperature precision of ±1 °C or better.

c. Furnace cooling from 600 to 50 °C in less than 10 min or better.

d. When extended range is required, replacement of refrigerator module and recalibration should be easily performed by user in a less than 4 hour time period.

e. Temperature and CTE calibration should be in accordance with ASTM protocols via manufacturer or NIST certified standards.

f. Modes to include temperature ramp, force ramp, stress ramp, strain ramp, creep, stress relaxation, modulated TMA.

g. Includes the following setups: expansion (regular/macro), penetration, hemispherical, tension, 3-point bending.

h. Displacement resolution of <0.5 nm.

i. Frequency range of 0.01 to 2 Hz or better.

j. Force range of 0.001 to 2 N or better.

k. Includes Mechanical Cooling Accessory - MCA70 (for TMA Q400) and applicable accessories to connect with the instrumentation.

(4) Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA)- Model Number DMA Q850

a. Temperature range from -150 to 600 °C or better.

b. Controlled heating and cooling rates of 0.1 to 20 °C/min and 0.1 to 10 °C/min or better, respectively.

c. Frequency range from 0.01 to 200 Hz or better.

d. Isothermal stability of ±0.1 °C or better.

e. Force range of 0.0001 to 18 N or better.

f. Strain resolution of 1 nm or better.

g. Includes the following clamp setups: single/dual-cantilever, 3-point bend, shear, compression, film/fiber tension, submersion.

h. Unit to support time-temperature superposition experiments.

i. Unit will allow DMA measurements under controlled relative humidity conditions.

i. RH unit to support 10-90 % RH or better.

ii. RH unit to support RH ramp experiments.

iii. RH unit to support isothermal or temperature ramping modes.

j. Low temperature via mechanical cooling units and/or liquid nitrogen Dewar.

k. Includes mechanical cooling unit ACS-3 Air Chiller System (for DMA Q850) and applicable accessories to connect with the instrumentation.

(5) Rheometer- Model Number DHR-3

a. Capable of testing samples at temperatures from -150 to 600 °C or better.

b. When different setup is required, change between attachments/systems and recalibration should be easily performed by user in a less than 4 hour time period.

c. Controlled heating rates of up to 50 °C/min or better.

d. Torque range from 0.05 µN.m to 200 mN.m or better.

e. Normal Force up to 50 N, with a resolution of 0.5 mN, or better.

f. Frequency range from 0 – 100 Hz or better.

g. Instrument should be capable of handling both low and high viscosity samples with high accuracy without extensive recalibration.

h. Angular velocity range between 0 – 300 rad/s, with a resolution of 2 nrad, or better.

i. Accommodate camera setup to capture effect of strain/temperature on sample.

j. Supports disposable plates and generic containers for curing studies.

k. Includes various accessories: environmental test chamber, advanced Peltier (all plate configurations), torsion immersion cell, parallel plate, dielectric analysis, small angle light scattering, dynamic mechanical analysis (all clamps), and UV curing.

l. Low temperature via mechanical cooling units and/or liquid nitrogen Dewar.

m. Includes mechanical cooling unit ACS-3 Air Chiller System (for DHR-3) and applicable accessories to connect with the instrumentation.

(6) Simultaneous DSC/TGA (SDT)- Model Number SDT 650

a. Temperature range from ambient to 1500 °C or better.

b. Controlled heating rates from 0.1 to 100 °C/min or better.

c. Temperature precision of 1 °C or better.

d. Temperature calibration should be in accordance with ASTM protocols via manufacturer or NIST certified standards.

e. Weighing precision of ±0.1% or better.

f. Accommodate vacuum measurements.

g. Accommodate modulated temperature and high resolution experiments.

h. Auto-sampler accommodating 30 samples or better.

(7) Vapor Sorption Analyzer (VSA)- Model Number VSA Q5000 SA

a. Temperature range from 10 to 80 °C or better.

b. Controlled humidity range from 0-95% RH or better.

c. Humidity accuracy of ±1% or better.

d. Sample weight range: 0 to 100 mg or better.

e. The sensitivity of the balance shall be <0.1 µg.

f. Auto-sampler accommodating multiple samples for automation.

(8) Data acquisition system

a. Intel Core2Duo 2.93 GHz processor or better

b. 8 GB RAM or better.

c. 250 GB Hard drive or better.

d. Windows 7 or 10 Professional.

e. Dual monitor setup.

f. DVD/CD-RW drive

g. 3.5”/1.44 Mb disk drive to simplify data transfer where possible.

h. Ethernet Hub cabling for interface to up to eight instruments.

i. Software

i. The software bundle must be able to support all thermal analysis systems

(described in sections 1-7) with required data rates from a single location.

ii. Allows both vendor and user-customizable thermal methods.

iii. The software bundle must capture pertinent method and calibration details in each thermal file.

iv. The thermal curves must be readily exportable in ASCII file formats.

v. Analysis software must:

1. Be able to plot different signals simultaneously

2. Be able to plot overlay curves

3. Be able to do 1 st and 2 nd derivative curves

4. Support Thermal purity, heat capacity, Time-Temperature Super-positioning and Molecular Weight Distribution models.

5. English, metric and SI inter-conversion

6. Ability to auto-generate & customize reports

7. Ability to customize macros within the software bundle to simplify analysis and report writing.

8. Able to import and/or export ASCII data, thermal analysis data files from other vendors.

9. Include software installation/recovery media.

(9) The thermal analysis suite must be turn-key and include the following US Navy needs:

a. Peripherals such as Ethernet hubs, cables, printers, etc.

b. Maintenance, standard operation, and user calibration tools/supplies.

c. Gas drying and pressure control equipment for purge gases.

d. Supply of consumables such as sample pans, disposable plates, etc.

e. Ensure back-ward compatibility with existing TA Instruments equipment (Q800, Q400EM, Q5000IR, Q1000, and ARES-RDA3), including processing, analysis, and reporting of all existing data packages.

The Government’s minimum needs have been verified by the certifying technical and requirements personnel. Estimated Dollar Value

FY18 FY19 FY20 Totals

SCN

OPN

RDT&E

Section 219 R&R

O&MN

FMS

Total The above amounts include only hardware and installation. Shipping costs have not been included.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

The statutory authority cited for this sole source procurement is 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c) (1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

As previously stated, the use of this thermal suite is to perform routine characterization, material qualification, and provide other key physical/chemical parameters pertaining to the safety, performance, and service life of US Navy Air Vehicles. The required thermal analysis instrumentation is replacing and expanding existing capabilities previously procured from TA

Instruments or their subsidiaries. The specifications required represent what the current lab can perform, except for the capability for the SDT, and two new pieces of equipment, the MS and VSA. NAVAIR would not want to procure equipment that would perform less than what the current equipment can achieve.

SDT has some new capabilities shown in italics in the requirements listed above. The current

SDT system located in the laboratory is outdated and thus the capabilities of that instrument are not representative of current industry standards. The requirements described in the above requirements write-up are modelled after the DSC and TGA requirements to ensure that the instruments have similar capability ranges to facilitate data comparison and instrument usability. For example, if the TGA instrument is capable of hi-resolution data acquisition, then the SDT should also have that capability to ensure matching data resolution.

Mass Spectrometry (MS) (coupled with a TGA), a completely new capability to the PAX site, will offer a way to perform time-sensitive material analysis requests that 4.3.4.4 branch processes in response to Physical Episode (PE) issues involving F/A-18 and T-45 aircraft.

Currently, 4.3.4.4 has to send these materials to Indian Head for analysis, extending the turn-around time from hours to weeks. PE investigations are of utmost importance at PAX due to the severe impact on F/A-18 and T-45 aircraft availability. Prolonging aircraft down-time due to unavailability of materials characterization equipment places an undue burden on training squadrons and will negatively impact fleet readiness in general. Additionally, not being able to generate the data in support of engineering decisions designed to protect the warfighter will erode the thrust placed in the Materials Engineering Division capabilities. As such, having this capability tied in with the thermal analysis suite would greatly enhance our ability to support on-going fleet issues. The specifications regarding the MS unit are industry standard for this type of analysis, and are very similar to the capability at the Indian Head facility.

The Vapor Sorption Analyzer is also a new capability to the PAX site. The requirements are modeled after real-life environments experienced within the Navy, such as humidity and temperature ranges, and composite specimen sizes. These real-life scenarios have to be accurately duplicated in the laboratory to ensure the collection of useful data. The capability itself would provide a means to study the behavior of composite materials when exposed to hot/wet conditions. This is currently performed by conditioning the materials for multiple months in humidity chambers, with no accessible information available in between dry and wet extremes. The VSA equipment will allow 4.3.4.4 to study composite materials in more relevant and highly controlled environments (i.e. partial saturation) as the fleet would experience in the field.

No vendor, other than TA Instruments, has been identified that can meet the entirety of the requirements for all instrumentation of the thermal analysis suite. Most notably, the

Rheometer is an important feature of the current thermal laboratory capability, which provides the Materials Division (especially the Sealants and Adhesives team) an excellent tool to study relevant material properties. With the exception of TA Instruments, none of the suppliers researched during the market research are able to offer Rheometers as part of their thermal analysis instrumentation. To fulfill the contract requirements, equipment would have to be sourced from multiple vendors, possibly resulting in instrument control and data compatibility issues. As a result, multiple controlling units would be necessary, significantly increasing the equipment footprint. Additionally, every workstation carries an IT related risk that can be minimized by selecting a vendor that can control all equipment via a single workstation.

Similarly, the current thermal analysis suite within the Materials Division was originally sourced from TA Instruments and is controlled via their software packages (TA Instruments

Q-Advantage (v2.5) and TA Universal Analysis (v4.7)). Some instrumentation will remain active within the Division, even after the completion of the upgrade/capability expansion, to support simultaneous efforts in multiple branches. The only vendor that can ensure backward compatibility with existing equipment and the respective existing data packages is TA

Instruments. Furthermore, ensuring data compatibility between other Navy sites (e.g. NSWC

IHD, NAWCWD China Lake), many of which also use TA Instruments equipment, is prudent.

Additionally, TA Instruments holds patented technologies on modulated temperature techniques. These patents include: Method and Apparatus for Modulated Differential Analysis

(MDSC®) (U.S. Patent Nos. 5,224,775; 5,346,306; 5,439,291. Additional Patent Nos. CA

2,089,225; JP 3,299,575). Modulated-Temperature Thermomechanical Analysis (U.S. Patent

No. 6,007,240). Method and Apparatus of Modulated-Temperature Thermogravimetry

(MTGA™) (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,336,741 and 6,113,261). The use of temperature modulated techniques has been incorporated into existing US Navy material qualification and characterization efforts. Replacement of the existing equipment with components incapable of producing temperature modulated signals would result in rewrites of these material specifications. While vendors such as Perkin Elmer, Inc, briefly marketed similar modulated temperature equipment, it lost the patent infringement case of TA Instruments v Perkin Elmer and can no longer sell such equipment within the United States. As a result, commercially available competitive technologies that have emerged since the above mentioned dispute are based on different scientific principles (example: sinusoidal temperature modulation for

MDSC® versus step-wise temperature modulation for MTDSC), and would warrant a side-by-side comparison of the equivalency of such techniques with existing data sets across various agencies.

Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), supplies may be deemed to be available from the original source in the case of a follow-on contract for the production of highly specialized equipment when it is likely that award to any other source would result in either substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition, or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirement.

In the present case, any other source would be required to establish technologies capable of meeting the scope of the tests currently benefitting from the Modulated Temperature patents without infringing on the scope of these patents in order to produce items that would meet the

Agency’s requirements. TA Instruments has already demonstrated interest in protecting their patents in the 8-year battles of TA Instruments v Perkin Elmer. Further, the Agency would be required to rewrite procedures and conduct side-by-side testing for each material currently qualified using the modulated technology to verify the equivalence of the methodologies to incorporate this new equipment into the Navy’s procedures. The Navy would also be required to maintain some of the existing equipment currently planned for retirement to conduct such analyses. Further, these steps would add months to the procurement process, which is an unacceptable delay to the agency.

Based on the above, TA Instruments is the only responsible source that will satisfy all agency requirements.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable

Extensive market research was conducted, verifying that several vendors sell DSC, TGA, SDT, TMA, DMA and MS modules: Mettler Toledo, Hitachi, Netzsch, Perkin Elmer, and TA

Instruments. However, none of these companies except TA Instruments supply Rheometers and/or VSA units compatible with the remaining thermal analysis suite. Furthermore, no vendor is able to meet the requirements for all thermal analysis equipment in a single cohesive equipment suite, with the exception of TA Instruments. Additionally, only TA Instruments can meet all the appropriate temperature modulation requirements necessary to meet US Navy needs. Some of the modulated temperature technologies are intrinsic and proprietary to the base modules of TA Instruments equipment and therefore cannot be retrofitted onto other vendors’ equipment.

A sources sought announcement was posted on FedBizOps 5 Oct 2017 detailing the specifications of the equipment currently in the lab and requesting vendors submit capabilities statements if they had equipment that met the requirements. The capabilities statements were due by 20 Oct 2017. Only one offeror, responded. requested a meeting to discuss the company’s capabilities. Due to scheduling difficulties, the meeting was conducted on 2 November 2017; after the meeting, was given an additional week to respond to the sources sought announcement. was found not capable of providing the suite of lab equipment because several pieces of the equipment that could be provided by was found either not technically acceptable in meeting our minimum requirements or indeterminable in terms of compatibility with the current suite of lab equipment. Specifically, the TMA supplied by did not meet 7 of the 9 technical requirements. The displacement resolution and force ranges were far less capable than the stated requirements. The DMA supplied by had a force range that is almost 50% less than the stated requirements. The Rheometer supplied by had an angular resolution that is far worse (by a factor of 6) than the stated requirement. The literature provided did not show whether or not the software can read/process existing data sets generated by the current TA Instruments lab equipment suite. A TGA was not provided for a capabilities determination. Additionally, there was insufficient information provided to assess if the Rheometer, Cooling units, and controlling units were compatible with the other lab equipment being offered.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs

In accordance with FAR 15.402, the Contracting Officer will ensure supplies and services under this contract are procured from a responsible source at a fair and reasonable price. The

Contractor will submit a formal priced proposal with sufficient information to support the accuracy and reliability of the cost of the procured lab equipment. The proposal will be reviewed by a contract specialist, with assistance provided by DCMA analysts as deemed necessary. In accordance with FAR 15.404, the Contracting Officer will use various cost and price techniques such as historical cost and pricing data and comparing TA Instrument’s equipment costs to other companies with similar products for the supplies covered in this

J&A. Since this equipment is considered commercial off the shelf, Data Other than Certified

Cost and Pricing Data will be utilized.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Competition

For reasons discussed in paragraph 5 above no further action to remove competitive barriers is needed at this time. If another potential source emerges, NAWCAD Code 4.3 will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(b))

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and its supporting acquisition planning data, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

TECHNICAL COGNIZANCE:

, Code Date

REQUIREMENTS COGNIZANCE:

, Ph.D. Chemist, Code Date

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW (NMCARS 5206.303-90)

I have determined this justification is legally sufficient.

, Attorney, Code Date

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12))

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

PCO, 2 Date

APPROVAL BLOCK (FAR 6.304 for Approving Official)

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve, as Competition Advocate for the

Contracting Activity, the solicitation of the proposed procurement(s) described herein using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1).

CHIEF OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE

Date