SATPC0036057 Tab 07 RDSS_Redacted.pdf

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER

RECOMMENDATION AND DETERMINATION TO SOLICIT FROM ONE SOURCE

OR BRAND NAME

Sole Source:

☒ I recommend that NASA, NASA Shared Services Center, negotiate with North American Manufacturing Pros, LLC (NamPros) to provide “Burn Resistant Ni-Alloy Development and Components using Laser Powder Bed Fusion”. The total estimated cost of this effort is and the estimated period of performance is Nine (9) months (March 2025).

This recommendation is for the acquisition of supplies or services determined to be reasonably available from only one source/only one manufacture. Competition is impractical for the following reasons (please answer the questions below):

1. What are the reasons for soliciting only the suggested source/suggested brand name? Please provide the unique characteristics of the items or services along with the supporting rationale and the market research performed to substantiate your reason for the suggested source/brand name.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) requires Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) expert knowledge to complete development builds of custom NASA alloys, including a burn resistant Nickel-Alloys OR-F9, ORCAlloy-21, and GRX-810. This expertise in complex L-PBF and detailed parameter development is required for safety of Advanced Propulsion Systems to maintain wall temperatures and structural margins for these unique burn-resistant alloys. NASA has previously worked with North American Manufacturing Pros, LLC (NamPros, Cage Code 8DKN6 and Unique ID DNL3LJ1C5955) in developing a parameter set for the custom NASA alloy called ORCAlloy-21, Alloy 754-ODS, and GRX-810.

Nampros has a proprietary set of build parameters for L-PBF for build parts using various power, travel speed, hatching, and layer thickness settings to produce burn resistant Ni-alloys density greater than 99.9%. This density is required for proper mechanical testing and hot-fire testing of components to meet NASA specifications and safety margins. NASA has completed extensive characterization on the builds provided by NamPros to validate the material, properties, and components. NamPros is the only company that has developed and optimized parameters for the custom NASA burn resistant Nickel alloys, ORCAlloy-21, and GRX-810 material using their proprietary setup and parameters. Prior development was completed on samples under 80NSSC24PB062, 80NSSC23PC229, 80NSSC24PA444, 80NSSC23PA912, PR420081102, PC11916326, and PC11918445 to evaluate the parameters for NASA burn resistant Nickel alloys, ORCAlloy-21, and GRX-810 and deemed to meet all NASA requirements for high density and material quality. NASA has completed and invested exhaustive characterization of various samples to ensure that the parameters will meet all requirements. The L-PBF process for NASA burn resistant Nickel alloys, ORCAlloy-21, and GRX-810 does not exist at any of the centers with a build volume greater than 100 mm, which is required for samples and development hardware. NamPros is the only vendor capable of this process with the quality and material characteristics.

2. What is the impact to the government if another vendor/brand was used? Include any dollar, schedule, or compatibility impacts if possible.

These development builds and parts are critical to hot-fire testing planned at NASA-MSFC in support of rapid fabrication of custom high temperature alloys, such as the NASA burn resistant Nickel alloys, ORCAlloy-21, and GRX-810 materials under the STMD Optimized and Repeatable Components using Additive (ORCA) Project. This alloy produced with these custom parameters and processing allows wall temperatures (>2000°F) to be adequately maintained so that there are no structural failures in the oxygen rich environment required for rocket engine test applications. Without this component and process, the hardware would not survive the extreme environment and would burn up. The use of these complex

Page 2 V2.0 3-15-2017 components using the L-PBF process and custom NASA burn resistant Nickel alloys, ORCAlloy-21, and GRX-810 materials and proprietary parameters will allow adequate wall temperatures to be designed for.

Failure to procure this would result in failure to test and significant schedule delays estimated at $2,200,000 and 16 months.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

7/26/2024 Technical User Name Date

Title

Office