Statement of Work Injection-Molded Structural Panel Component Tooling and Lot Delivery

A. Background/History of Requirement: NASA Ames is conducting a research program on modular robotic structural assembly (ARMADAS) for RTMD technology development in support of the HSMD Moon Base program. Key to this research is the use of large quantities of identical structural components produced with consistent dimensional precision, repeatability, and material properties, so that components can be interfaced with existing equipment and compared reliably across the research data set. NASA uses injection molding of custom geometry in high-performance thermoplastic materials to produce these components. This procurement covers injection mold tooling manufacturing and target production of 500 units of a structural panel component. The tooling and parts will be used to extend research capabilities and contribute to novel advanced materials and manufacturing technology research.

B. Description of item(s) to be purchased: The items to be purchased are (1) a single-cavity injection mold tool for the structural panel component identified as “panel_border”, and (2) a production lot of 500 injection-molded units produced from that tool.

C. Requirements Specifications:

1. Design of Tooling

a) The target process shall use industrial state-of-the-art injection molding with a single-cavity mold. The component shall be molded in Nylon 12 (Grilamid TR 55) or an approved equivalent high-performance thermoplastic, in the original (transparent) material. The molded part shall conform to the NASA-provided geometry within an overall envelope of approximately 12.0 in x 12.0 in x 0.63 in (304 mm x 304 mm x 16 mm), with a material tolerance of +/- 0.003 in./in. and a machining tolerance of +/- 0.003 in., consistent with standard injection-molding practice.

b) Review the NASA-provided part geometry for the structural panel component, including its alignment features, fastener interface features, and handling features, and confirm manufacturability by injection molding.

c) Accept the example part file “panel_border.stp” provided by the technical POC and recommend any geometry changes required for injection-molding process optimization (e.g., draft, gating, and ejection); digital files to be exchanged with the technical POC for approval throughout the design process.

d) Design Deliverables: 3D CAD files (native format per a standard CAD package such as SolidWorks, Creo, NX, etc., and STEP files of geometry alone) of any modifications to the part geometry due to refinement of the mold tooling profiles, for research use (process analysis) by the technical POC.

2. Production of Tooling

a) Produce the single-cavity injection mold tooling system using standard tooling materials and processes suitable for the required production quantity of the specified thermoplastic.

b) Deliverables: Per standard procedure, NASA will own the components that are unique to the part geometry and will allow storage by the contractor for future work or request that they be transferred to NASA at the end of this work for failure analysis if they are no longer usable.

3. Parts Production - Fabrication of an initial 500 units once tooling qualification is complete.

4. Period of Performance: Approximately four (4) weeks from order placement for tooling fabrication and delivery of the initial 500-unit production lot.