PWS_FAILURE_ANALYSIS_Rev_1_3-20-2018.docx

1. Background.

1.1. The Military Sealift Command (MSC) owns and operates approximately 91 ships, with steam turbine, gas turbine, and diesel engine propulsion systems. These ships fulfill such varied missions as underway replenishment, oceanographic research, cable repair, and dry and refrigerated cargo support. The MSC N7 Division is responsible for aspects of ship maintenance, repair, alteration, and material readiness for the MSC fleet. Throughout the period of performance of this contract, new ships will be introduced into the MSC fleet, ships will undergo life extensions, and ships will be retired from service life.

1.2. The MSC Engineering Directorate has five divisions: N71 (Maintenance Management), N72 (Technical Division), N73 (Policy and Regulatory Compliance), N74 (Fleet Recapitalization), and N75 (Field Activity). With the exception of N75 in Norfolk, VA,

1.3. Availability of vessels is essential to MSC’s mission, and the adoption of sound maintenance practices is acknowledged as a major contributor to improved reliability. The Engineering Directorate is required to perform Failure Analysis on multiple failures onboard MSC ships.

2. Scope. This contract will provide non-personal engineering services to the Engineering Directorate of MSC in the form of a Failure Analysis Subject Matter Expert. The Contractor is to be a fully accredited testing facility whose personnel are familiar with various nationally recognized test methods and standards, including but not limited to, those standards outlined in Section 5 below. That Contractor must be a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI) by the National Association of Fire Investigators. The Contractor shall have the capabilities and the requisite skills to perform all task orders contemplated under this contract.

2.1 Non-Personal Services. Non-personal engineering services shall be provided under this contract. Personnel rendering the services are not subject either by the contract’s terms or by the manner of its administration, to the supervision and control usually prevailing in relationships between the Government and its employees.

3. Specific Tasks. The Contractor shall provide a broad range of Failure Analysis which includes Metallurgical Testing, Chemical Analysis, Fatigue Testing, Mechanical Testing, Polymer Testing, Plating and Coating Analysis, Weld Testing, Thermogravimetric Analysis, and Fire Investigation. Specific task descriptions and instructions, sufficient in detail to allow for Contractor performance, shall be provided with each task order (TO) issued under this contract.

3.1 Metallurgical Testing. The Contractor shall Perform Metallurgical Testing which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.1.1. The Contractor shall Perform Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) examination of various parts to identify the nature of the observed fracture, and identify any inclusions or features that may have acted as a fracture origin, as well as identifying the fracture morphology.

3.1.2. The Contractor shall Perform metallographic cross section evaluation of selected parts to identify the microstructural features pertaining to the failure, including any base metal or processing discontinuities associated with the fracture site.

3.1.3. The Contractor shall Conduct Microstructural Analysis using a Light Metallurgical Microscope.

3.2. Chemical Analysis. The Contractor shall Perform Chemical Analysis which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.2.1. The Contractor shall Perform chemical analysis of the representative sections of selected parts for alloy verification and compare the results to standard alloy composition and determine the significance of any discrepancies.

3.2.2. The Contractor shall Perform Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS) of representative areas to identify the elements present with atomic weight greater than beryllium.

3.2.3. The Contractor shall Perform Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) Analysis with Carbon and Sulfur by combustion ASTM E1019.

3.2.4. The Contractor shall Determine carbon content by combustion analysis.

3.2.5. The Contractor shall Conduct Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine the identity of organic materials, determine if contamination is present, and evaluate samples for degradation.

3.3. Fatigue Testing. The Contractor shall Perform Failure Testing which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.3.1. The Contractor shall perform visual examination of High Cycle and Low Cycle Fatigue Failures.

3.4. Mechanical Testing. The Contractor shall Perform Mechanical Testing which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.4.1. The Contractor shall Conduct visual examination and detailed photographic documentation of the submitted components. Any damage or fabrication irregularities potentially contributing to the failure shall be identified.

3.4.2. The Contractor shall Take Dimensional Measurements of all submitted specimens.

3.4.3. The Contractor shall Conduct Optical Stereomicroscopy with magnification up to 120x.

3.4.4. The Contractor shall Perform sectioning and analytical specimen removal from the parts.

3.4.5. The Contractor shall Perform Brinell testing, Rockwell and Superficial hardness testing, and Knoop and Vickers hardness testing of selected parts to verify the general material condition.

3.4.6. The Contractor shall Conduct Tensile Testing in accordance with ASTM E8/E8M-11, and shall determine approximated Tensile Strength ASTM A370.

3.5. Polymer Testing. The Contractor shall Perform Polymer Testing which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.5.1. The Contractor shall Conduct Total Extractable Analysis per modified ASTM D297-93.

3.5.2. The Contractor shall Conduct Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis (TD/PY) Gas Chromatography with a Mass Selective Detector (GC/MS).

3.6. Plating and Coating Analysis. The Contractor shall Perform Planting and Coating Analysis which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.6.1. The Contractor shall Conduct coating failures analysis from hydrogen embrittlement, wear testing, fatigue testing/coating shear and rotating beam fatigue.

3.6.2. The Contractor shall Conduct fastener plating and coating thickness determination.

3.7. Weld Testing. The Contractor shall Perform Weld Testing which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.7.1. The Contractor shall Conduct Root, Face and Side Bend Testing, Tensile Testing, Failure Analysis/Defect Detection and Cross Sectional Analysis.

3.8. Thermogravimetric Analysis. The Contractor shall Perform Thermogravimetric Analysis which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.8.1. The Contractor shall Perform Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) per ASTM E 1131-08 to provide approximate temperature at which the submitted material begins to decompose or burn.

3.9. Fire Investigation. The Contractor shall Perform Fire Investigation which includes the following tasks, but is not limited to:

3.9.1. The Contractor shall be Perform Fire Investigation to determine probable cause.

4. Other Requirements

4.1 The Contractor shall have the manpower to perform at least three (3) separate failure analyses simultaneously, covering all the necessary technical areas of expertise.

4.2 The Contractor shall be capable of performing the specific tests/analysis referenced in Section 10 per the applicable standards listed.

4.3 All meetings shall be via teleconference.

5. Standards.

5.1 MSC maintains ships to United States Coast Guard (USCG) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) standards, and while not all ships are certificated and classed, any designs and alterations done on MSC ships will meet the standards set forth by these societies. In addition, any design work and alterations shall meet United States Public Health Service (USPHS), American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), International Maritime Organization (IMO), Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), and others as applicable. All work performed under this contract must meet these standards.

5.2 The below references should be used under this contract to meet the aforementioned standards:

· ASTM E620 Standard Practice for Reporting Opinions of Technical Experts

· ASTM E678 Standard Practice for Evaluation of Scientific or Technical Data

· ASTM E860 Standard Practice for Examining And Preparing Items That Are Or May Become Involved In Criminal or Civil Litigation

· ASTM E1188 Standard Practice for Collection and Preservation of Information and Physical Items by a Technical Investigator

· ASTM E8/E8M-11 Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials

· ASTM A370 Standard Test Methods and Definitions for Mechanical Testing of Steel Products

· ASTM E18 Standard Test Methods for Rockwell Hardness of Metallic Materials

· ASTM E10 Standard Test Method for Brinell Hardness of Metallic Materials

· ASTM E384 Standard Test Method for Microindentation Hardness of Materials

· ASTM E415 Standard Test Method for Atomic Emission Vacuum Spectrometric Analysis of Carbon and Low-Alloy Steel

· ASTM E350 Standard Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Carbon Steel, Low- Alloy Steel, Silicon Electrical Steel, Ingot Iron, and Wrought Iron

· ASTM E1019 Standard Test Methods for Determination of Carbon, Sulfur, Nitrogen, and Oxygen in Steel, Iron, Nickel, and Cobalt Alloys by Various Combustion and Fusion Techniques

· ASTM A751 Standard Test Methods, Practices, and Terminology for Chemical Analysis of Steel Products

· ASTM E543 Standard Specification for Agencies Performing Nondestructive Testing

· ASTM E1316 Standard Terminology for Nondestructive Examinations

· ASTM E709 Standard Guide for Magnetic Particle Testing

· ASTM E1444 Standard Practice for Magnetic Particle Testing

· ASTM A275 / A275M Standard Practice for Magnetic Particle Examination of Steel Forgings

· ASTM E165 Standard Practice for Liquid Penetrant Examination for General Industry

· ASTM E1417 Standard Practice for Liquid Penetrant Testing

· ASTM E3 Standard Guide for Preparation of Metallographic Specimens

· ASTM E45 Standard Test Methods for Determining the Inclusion Content of Steel

· ASTM E883 Standard Guide for Reflected–Light Photomicrography

· ASTM F1372 Standard Test Method for Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Analysis of Metallic Surface Condition for Gas Distribution System Components

· ASTM F1375 Standard Test Method for Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDX) Analysis of Metallic Surface Condition for Gas Distribution System Components

· ASTM D297-93 Standard Test Methods for Rubber Products-Chemical Analysis

· ASTM E1131-08 Standard Test Method for Compositional Analysis by Thermogravimetry

6. Place of Performance.

Work will be performed at the Contractor’s facility and specific places to be identified in individual task orders both in the United States and overseas locations. Eighty percent of the work is expected to occur at the contractor’s facility, 10% CONUS and the remaining 10% OCONUS.

7. Personnel.

7.1 Key Personnel: The Program Manager, Assistant Program Manager, and those personnel fulfilling major technical roles are considered key personnel.

7.1.1 The Contractor shall designate an individual as the Program Manager with complete authority to make decisions on all technical matters connected with this contract. The Program Manager shall have a minimum of a Bachelor’s of Science degree in marine, mechanical, or electrical engineering, or materials science, engineering, or naval architecture, or an equivalent field acceptable to the Government and a be a Registered Professional Engineer (PE) with a minimum of ten (10) years as a failure analyst.

7.1.2 The Contractor shall designate at least one (1) Assistant Program Manager as an alternate manager with the authority to act as and on behalf of the Program Manager in the event of the absence or incapacity of the designated Program Manager. The Assistant Program Manager shall meet the same minimum qualifications as the Program Manager.

7.1.3 The Contractor shall identify those personnel who will fulfill major technical roles. Major technical roles include those personnel who will be making final recommendations to the Government on reports, conducting failure analysis, etc. There should be at minimum one (1) person defined in each of the following areas addressed in Section 3. Personnel may be dual hatted. The personnel defined for each of the major technical areas shall have a minimum of a Bachelor’s of Science degree in their field of expertise. Additionally, personnel shall have a minimum of four (4) years of experience in providing engineering services to commercial and/or US naval ships. In the absence of having a Bachelor's of Science degree in the above-mentioned fields, personnel in major technical roles shall have a minimum of seven (7) years of applicable experience.

7.2 Substitution of Personnel

7.2.1 General Provision: The Contractor agrees to assign to this contract those persons identified as key personnel whose resumes were submitted with their proposal and who are necessary to fulfill the requirements of this contract. No substitutions of key personnel shall be made except in accordance with this section.

7.2.2 Guidance on Substitutions: During the first ninety (90) days of the contract performance period no personnel substitutions by the Contractor will be made unless substitutions are necessitated by an individual's sudden illness, death, or termination of employment. In any of these events, the Contractor shall promptly notify the Contracting Officer and provide the information required by Section

9.2.3 below. After the initial ninety (90) day period, all proposed substitutions must be submitted, in writing, at least ten (10) days in advance of the proposed substitutions to the Contracting Officer and provide information required by Section 9.2.3 below.

7.2.3 Request for Substitution: All requests for substitutions must provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitution, a resume for the proposed substitute, and any other information-requested by the Contracting Officer. All proposed substitutes must have qualifications equal to or higher than the qualifications of the person to be replaced. The Contracting Officer or his/her authorized representative will evaluate such requests and promptly notify the Contractor of his/her approval or disapproval thereof.

8. Facility:

8.1 The Contractor’s facility shall be accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories. Accreditations hall be maintained throughout the life of the Contract. Accreditation shall be granted to the laboratory to perform the below listed tests on the following materials and products: adhesives, aluminum alloys, brass and bronze, cables, carbon steel, cast iron, ceramics, coatings, copper alloys, elastomers, fasteners, labels, low alloy steel, nickel, paints, plastics, powder metals, rubber, stainless steel, super alloys, titanium alloys, zinc alloys, thermal spray, oil and oil products:

8.1.2 Mechanical:

8.1.2.1 Bend

8.1.2.2 Impact (Charpy)

8.1.2.3 Tension (Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS), Yield Strength (YS), Elastic Limit (EL), Reduction in Area)

10.1.2.3.1.1 N-Value (Strain Hardening Exponent) 10.1.2.3.1.2 R-Value (Plastic Strain Ratio) 10.1.2.3.1.3 Young’s Modulus

8.1.2.4 Coatings and Platings

10.1.2.4.1.10 Coating Adhesion

10.1.2.4.1.10 Coating Testing and Evaluation

10.1.2.4.1.10 Microhardness of Coatings

10.1.2.4.1.10 Thickness by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

10.1.2.4.1.10 Thickness Cross Section

8.1.2.5 Corrosion/Environmental Testing

10.1.2.5.1.10 Cyclic Corrosion

10.1.2.5.1.10 Humidity, Condensation/Water Fog

10.1.2.5.1.10 Salt Spray, Copper Accelerated Acetic Acid Salt Spray Test (CASS), & Accelerated Corrosion

8.1.2.6 Fasteners

10.1.2.6.1.10 Coating Thickness

10.1.2.7.1.10 Brinell

10.1.2.7.1.10 Rockwell and Superficial

10.1.2.7.1.10 Microhardness

10.1.2.7.1.10 Knoop

10.1.2.7.1.10 Vickers

10.1.2.7.1.10 Hardness by Comparison

8.1.2.8 Metallurgical Examination

10.1.2.8.1.10 Preparation of Samples

10.1.2.8.1.10 Case Depth

10.1.2.8.1.10 Depth of Decarburization

10.1.2.8.1.10 Grain Size

10.1.2.8.1.10 Inclusion Content

10.1.2.8.1.10 Intergranular Attack 10.1.2.8.1.7 Microstructure – Cast Iron 10.1.2.8.1.8 Microetching

10.1.2.8.1.10 Macroetching

10.1.2.8.1.10 Orientation in Microstructure 10.1.2.8.1.11 Phase Volume Determination 10.1.2.8.1.12 Replication

8.1.3.1

Chromatography

8.1.3.1.1 Gas Chromatography (GC) / Mass Spectrometry (MS)

8.1.3.1.2 Ion Chromatography

8.1.3.2 Coating Weight

8.1.3.3 Combustion Analysis (LECO carbon and sulfur combustion analyzer or equal)

8.1.3.4 Density, Oil Content, and Porosity

8.1.3.5 Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP)

8.1.3.6 Wet Chemistry

10.1.3.6.1.1 pH

8.1.3.7 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) / Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS)

8.1.3.8 Spectroscopy

8.1.3.8.1 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)

8.1.3.8.2 Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES)

8.1.3.8.2..1010 Copper Base 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Titanium Base 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Iron Base 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Cobalt Base 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Nickel Base 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Stainless Steel 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Aluminum Base 8.1.3.8.2..1010 Positive Material Identification (PMI)

9. Information or Materials Available for Contractor’s Use. Any Specific information or materials available for contractor’s use will be identified under individual task orders.

10. Contract Type

10.1 This will be a firm- fixed-price, indefinite- delivery, indefinite-quantity IDIQ type. Under this type of Contract, no work may be performed until directed by Task Order (TO).

10.2 Maximum and Minimum Quantities

10.2.1 MINIMUM: The Government agrees to order a minimum of $3,500.00 of supplies or services under this contract.

10.2.2 MAXIMUM: The maximum quantity that can be ordered during any contract period shall equal the sum of the value of the contract period then current and the value of all previous contract periods, if any, plus ten percent (10%), less the total value of all orders placed during all previous contract periods.

11. Task Orders. Task orders shall be issued on a specific basis. Specific task orders shall require completion of a specific statement of work.

11.1 Ordering Procedures. After contract award, individual task orders will be issued as necessary to support Contract requirements. Contractors will be sent a Statement of Work (SOW) for services to be performed via a Request for Quote. In response to the SOW, the Contractor shall, if desired, provide a firm fixed price to complete the requirements by the deadline requested. This firm fixed price shall include all labor, travel and material. The price for labor shall be in accordance with the labor rates established in the Contract. The Contractor shall respond to each Request for Quote (RFQ) within the time established by the Government for response (will vary on an Order basis but is typically five business days after receipt of the SOW) with a price proposal, which identifies the number of labor hours, travel, and material required to complete the requirements, and a technical proposal, which outlines its approach to accomplishing the SOW. MSC Contracting personnel will notify the Contractors of the acceptance/rejection of the estimate. The Contractor will be directed to commence work via a TO send from the Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist. The Contractor shall provide notice of acceptance of the TO by either commencing work or signing the SF 1149 and returning it to the Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist.

12. Contract Deliverables. Deliverables shall be identified by each individual TO. In any case, all deliverables shall be of sufficient completeness to stand alone and provide a complete record of the task accomplished. The Contractor shall comply with all Government printing regulations in supplying deliverables. Deliverables may include but are not limited to a formal report including photographs and obtained analytical data. The report will summarize conclusions about the cause(s) of the fracture and any other factors that may have contribute

12.1 The Contractor shall provide interpretive report with photomicrographs, conclusions, and opinions as to mechanism and cause of fracture(s) and observed damage approved by a Registered PE.

12.2 The products of this tasking are to be considered unclassified defense technical data and are subject to security restrictions of the contract. Subject to the requirements of the contract, all products produced for this tasking should be marked as follows:

12.2.1 Distribution Statement D. Distribution authorized to the Department of Defense and U.S. DoD Contractors only.

12.2.2 "WARNING: THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS TECHNICAL DATA WHOSE EXPORT IS RESTRICTED BY THE ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT (TITLE 22, U.S.C. SEC. 2751 ET SEQ.) OR EXECUTIVE ORDER 12470. VIOLATIONS OF THESE EXPORT LAWS ARE SUBJECT TO SEVERE CRIMINAL PENALTIES."

13. Enterprise-Wide Contractor Manpower Reporting Application (ECMRA)

The contractor shall report contractor labor hours (including subcontractor labor hours) required for performance of services provided under this contract for the Military Sealift Command via a secure data collection site. Contracted services excluded from reporting are based on Product Service Codes (PSCs). The excluded PSCs are:

(1) W, Lease/Rental of Equipment;

(2) X, Lease/Rental of Facilities;

(3) Y, Construction of Structures and Facilities;

(4) D, Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunications, IT and Telecom- Telecommunications Transmission (D304) and Internet (D322) ONLY;

(5) S, Utilities ONLY; and

(6) V, Freight and Shipping ONLY.

The contractor is required to completely fill in all required data fields using the following web address https://www.emra.mil

Reporting inputs will be for the labor executed during the period of performance during each Government fiscal year (FY), which runs October 1 through September 30. While inputs may be reported any time during the FY, all data shall be reported no later than October 31 of each calendar year. Contractors may direct questions to the help desk, linked at https://www.emra.mil.