Statement of Requirements .pdf

Statement of Requirements: Manufacture of High-Purity Iron and Ultrahigh-Purity Iron for Reference Material Development

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Statement of Requirements TITLE: Manufacture of High-Purity Iron and Ultrahigh-Purity Iron for Reference Material Development

Requesting Lab/Division/Group: Materials Measurement Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Division, Inorganic Chemical Metrology Group (646.01)

Background The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) requires high-purity iron and ultrahigh-purity iron in rod form suitable for development into certified reference materials for elemental analysis. The materials will be used to develop renewals of Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) 1766 and 1768, which are going out of stock. These SRMs are used by iron and steel labs to calibrate and to validate test methods for analyses of trace level elements in iron. The materials are needed in sufficient quantities to make supplies for 25 years or more of SRM sales. The materials must be of very high homogeneity with very low potential for contamination during processing into the rod form. The manufacturing process will include checks for composition before melting and for composition and homogeneity after forging. Rework may be required in the event heterogeneity is too high, the composition has been contaminated, or there are voids evident in the rod form material.

Objective(s) The objective of this procurement is to obtain the materials required to develop SRM 1766a High- Purity Iron (disk form) and SRM 1768a Ultrahigh-Purity Iron (disk form). Sufficient quantities are required to enable production of 25 years or more supply per SRM, based on recent sales of reference materials demand.

Scope/General Requirements The materials needed by NIST require special manufacturing with high-purity iron for one composition and ultrahigh-purity iron for the second composition. It is necessary to have each material vacuum melted, cast and rolled with special expertise and equipment to ensure no substantial changes in the composition and low heterogeneity of each composition at all points of the manufacturing process. This effort is expected to require a significant amount of quantitative elemental analyses for the 21 elements in the composition specifications.

Tasks/Specific Requirements NIST has a need for high-purity iron and ultrahigh-purity iron that would meet the specified criteria below. Therefore, there are two primary tasks: 1) delivery of 1,000 kg of rods of high-purity iron and 2) delivery of 225 kg of rods of ultrahigh-purity iron. Each primary task is comprised of three secondary tasks: a) selection of material for composition; b) melting the required quantity, rolling rods, and testing for composition uniformity; c) package and ship rods to NIST.

Task No. Description Instruction

1a Select or create a high-purity iron composition fitting Table 1 of Special

Material Requirements on page 3.

Report by email to NIST TPOC the selected material composition based on test results.

1b Melt required quantity of iron in a single batch and roll it into rods of specified dimensions. Slice off 10 cm

(4”) of one end of each rod. Then slice one sample from that end of every rod and perform elemental analyses on every sample slice. Peform four replicate analyses of NIST-supplied SRM

1766 in this batch of analyses.

See Special Material Requirement bullet

1 for form and size of rods. Report test results for all rods and the four analyses of SRM 1766 by email to NIST TPOC.

Send test samples to NIST for confirmation. See Special Material

Requirement bullet 3 on Homogeneity and clause on Other Unique

Requirements.

1c Package rods as required, and ship to

NIST Gaithersburg.

See Special Requirements 3 and 4.

2a Select or create a ultrahigh-purity iron composition fitting Table 2 of Special

Material Requirements on page 4.

Report by email to NIST TPOC the selected material composition based on test results.

2b Melt required quantity of iron in a single batch and roll it into rods of specified dimensions. Slice off 10 cm

(4”) of one end of each rod. Then slice one sample from that end of every rod and perform elemental analyses on every sample slice. Peform four replicate analyses of NIST-supplied SRM

1766 in this batch of analyses.

See Special Material Requirement bullet

1 for form and size of rods. Report test results for all rods and the four analyses of SRM 1766 by email to NIST TPOC.

Send test samples to NIST for confirmation. See Special Material

Requirement bullet 3 on Homogeneity and clause on Other Unique

Requirements.

2c Package rods as required, and ship to

NIST Gaithersburg.

See Special Material Requirement bullets 3 and 4.

*See Period of Performance on page 6.

Special Material Requirements The following material requirements apply to the tasks previously enumerated.

1. Production Size and Unit Dimensions:

The requirement is to produce two different materials – one high-purity iron composition and one ultrahigh-purity iron composition. Each material will consist of a set of rods each having a diameter of 3.5 centimeters and lengths of 2.1 meters to 4.5 meters, with all rods being about the same length.

a. The production run of the high-purity iron material will provide a minimum total produced weight of 1000 kilograms (2200 lbs.), melted and rolled to rod form in a single batch.

b. The production run of the ultrahigh-purity iron material will provide a total produced weight of that material of at least 225 kilograms (495 lbs.), melted and rolled to rod form in a single batch.

2. Elemental Compositions:

a. High-Purity Iron – The high-purity iron material shall be similar in elemental composition to SRM 1766 Low Alloy Steel (disk form). The certificate of analysis for SRM 1766 is included by reference and may be downloaded from https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1766. Note, by current industry standards, SRM 1766 is actually high-purity iron rather than low alloy steel. By similar in composition, it is meant the material must contain the elements listed in Table 1 within the ranges given in the table. Where the listed element is an element that is not allowed to be handled in the foundry, the natural tramp amount of the element found in the manufactured material will be acceptable. The respondent shall provide a list of such elements. Any elements other than those in Table 1, known by the producer to be present, shall be of low mass fractions similar to the ranges given in Table 1.

Table 1. Target Composition Ranges by Element for High-Purity Iron

High-Purity Iron

Target Range Target Range Target Range Low High

Al 0.005 0.010 P 0.001 0.005 Si 0.005 0.020

Sb 0.0005 0.002 Mn 0.035 0.100 S 0.001 0.004

As 0.002 0.006 Mo 0.0015 0.006 Sn 0.0005 0.002

B 0.0001 0.0005 Ni 0.005 0.030 Ti 0.0002 0.002 C 0.008 0.030 Nb 0.002 0.010 W 0.0005 0.002

Cr 0.010 0.040 N 0.001 0.005 V 0.004 0.020

Co 0.001 0.004 O No requirement Cu 0.008 0.030 Pb 0.001 0.004

b. Ultrahigh-Purity Iron – The ultrahigh-purity iron material shall be similar in elemental composition to SRM 1768 High-Purity Iron (disk form). The certificate of analysis for SRM 1768 is included by reference and may be downloaded from https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1768. Note, by current industry standards, SRM 1768 is actually ultrahigh-purity iron rather than high-purity iron. By similar in composition, it is meant that the material must contain the elements listed in Table 2 within the ranges given in the table. Where the listed element is an element that is not allowed to be handled in the foundry, the natural tramp amount of the element found in the manufactured material will be acceptable. The respondent shall provide a list of such https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1766 https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1766 https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1768 https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_cert.cfm?srm=1768 elements. Any elements other than those in Table 2, known by the producer to be present, shall be of low mass fractions similar to the ranges given in Table 2.

Table 2. Target Composition Ranges by Element for Ultrahigh-Purity Iron

Ultrahigh-Purity Iron

Target Range Target Range Target Range Low High Low High Low High

Al < 0.003 P < 0.0005 Si < 0.001 Sb < 0.0005 Mn < 0.002 S < 0.0005 As < 0.0005 Mo < 0.0005 Sn < 0.0005 B < 0.0005 Ni < 0.002 Ti < 0.001 C < 0.002 Nb < 0.0005 W < 0.0005 Cr < 0.0005 N < 0.003 V < 0.0005 Co < 0.003 O No requirement Cu < 0.001 Pb < 0.002

3. Homogeneity of Compositions:

The sought materials are intended for development into NIST SRMs. Therefore, homogeneity throughout the production run is of high priority. The contractor must have test capabilities or access to test facilities, as they are required to test the materials at two points in manufacture, viz. for the original selection of each material for processing and after processing to rods to demonstrate the composition meets NIST requirements. As shown in Task Nos. 1c and 2c, the contractor must test samples from all individual rods. The test results for all listed elements in all samples from individual rods must fall within the ranges of values listed in Table 1 for the high-purity iron and in Table 2 for the ultrahigh-purity iron. There must be no significant composition change for an individual bar from the population or as trends over the population of bars (See Special Requirement 4 on rod numbering). This second requirement is intended to identify any significant contamination to the materials or segregation of an element during melting and cooling. By significant, it is meant the amount of an element in a single sample must not differ from the median result for all samples by more than a factor of three (3) times the standard deviation of the set of test results for the element.

A third requirement for homogeneity of both compositions is the absence of voids within the rod form material. The absence of voids in the material will be considered to be demonstrated by the absence of voids in the test sample slices used for the above elemental analyses of all rods along with the absence of pits greater than 0.5 cm (0.2”) deep in the surfaces of the produced bars. Therefore, the test sample slices will be shipped to NIST for inspection, and the bars shall be inspected for pits by the contractor.

Samples will consist of one slice (thickness minimum 1.2 cm (0.5“)/maximum 3.8 cm (1.5“)) taken from one end of every rod, after removal of the first 10 cm (4”) from that end of the rod.

After analyses by the contractor, these samples shall be shipped to TPOC.

NIST will review the test results and inspect the tested samples for each batch of rods and, within three (3) business days after receipt of test results and samples from the contractor, will declare the batch acceptable or not on the basis of the above composition/homogeneity requirements. It is recognized that a batch of rods may not entirely meet the requirements.

Depending on the extent of the deficiency, NIST may choose to 1) accept a partial batch, 2) loosen composition requirements, or 3) request rework by the contractor to create a new batch of rods, either by remelt of the first batch or after choosing a new batch of iron.

Acceptance of a partial batch would be accompanied by consideration for incomplete delivery.

4. Packaging:

The produced rods shall be numbered at the place and time of their manufacture. The number shall be marked on or into the rod ends in such a manner as to be preserved during shipping and subsequent handling. If possible, the order of numbering shall match the rod production order. Numbering in order of production would aid in identification of composition trends or possible contamination of a batch. The rods shall be packaged for shipment in wood crates or boxes such that each box contains six to eight rods. NIST storage facilities are set up for long term storage of metal rods in boxes having inside dimensions of 15.2 cm (6 in) wide and 8.9 cm ( 3.5 in) deep and overall length up to 4.6 m (15 ft).

5. Shipping

Test samples shall be shipped by overnight carrier to NIST Gaithersburg, MD, to the attention of the TPOC. Test results shall be sent to TPOC by email.

Finished rods shall be shipped to NIST Gaithersburg, MD by ground freight carrier to the attention of the NIST Office of Reference Materials, Building 203, Attention: M. Cronise.

Other Unique Requirements Because the contractor will perform elemental analyses on which basis NIST will decide to reject or to accept materials, it is in the interests of both parties to include a quality assurance material during each batch of analyses. Every time the contractor performs a batch of analyses of the materials produced under this requirement, they will measure four replicate samples of

SRM 1766. NIST shall provide two disks of SRM 1766 to the contractor for this purpose. A disk of

SRM 1766 shall be analyzed at least four times during the testing of a batch of rods, and the test results from SRM 1766 shall be reported by the contractor when the batch of test results is submitted to NIST. In its review of the test results, NIST will consider the results for SRM 1766 as being indicative of statistical process control by the contractor of its elemental analysis method.

Data on statistical process control helps eliminate issues where the test method drifts over time or suddenly goes out of control rendering new test results incompatible with older test results. In that way, NIST and the contractor can make informed decisions about whether changes in test results truly indicate changes in material composition.

Place of Performance The manufacture of materials shall be done at the contractor’s facilities, using highly specialized equipment. Elemental analysis of representative samples for elemental composition and inspection of rods for surface pits shall be the responsibility of the contractor.

Period of Performance NIST requires delivery of both final products within a period of 200 calendar days from award of contract. However, due to current to access restrictions performance shall not take place until the contractor coordinates with the designated Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) and Contracting Officer (CO). Prior to commencement of performance, the Contractor must ensure NISTs campus is open and performance can occur. If the restrictions of access to the campus impacts the period of performance, a modification may be executed by the CO to establish a revised PoP

Government-Furnished Material NIST will provide the contractor with two disks of Standard Reference Material 1766 for the purpose of making quality assurance measurements during elemental analyses of produced materials. The samples of SRM 1766 are for testing only and have no monetary value to the government.