QA_Master_Updated.pdf

Vendor Q&A:

1. Under the specifications item #7 shows system is to be water cooled. Does this need to include a water chiller?

A. Only if your system requires one. The system is required to be bid in a fashion that the system will be delivered (per the bid) fully functional, and no additional equipment will be required. In other words, if your system needs a chiller (or other item) and is not included in the bid, it will not be accepted upon delivery/set-up.

2. Do you have access to a house chiller or do you intend to use city water supply for this?

A. We do not have access to a house chiller. City water is to be used.

3. If not do we need to include a refrigerated chiller in order to cool the Hydraulic pump?

A. Anything required for your system to be operational upon delivery/set up should be included. We will not accept any system that is bid and upon deliver found to require additional components to operate.

4. Also do you have a drawing of the space available in this lab that you can share? I would like to include a layout drawing that could show a possible positions of all the included equipment.

A. The floor plan cannot be shared. Assume it will be placed in a bay against a wall with air/water/etc.

lines present along wall.

General Project Requirements

1. Please confirm that the government will be responsible for uncrating and moving the test machines to their final place of operation prior to contractor arriving on-site for calibration and training.

A. Upon arrival at GVSC Shipping and receiving, the equipment will be relocated by the Government via forklift to the installation location. Uncrating of the components and system will be dependent on the vender's requirements, but crates can be opened and equipment can be positioned with the help of government personnel. If certain components require the vender to position them or if the components are too heavy for the vender to reposition to meet what is required to set up the equipment, the vender shall provide any necessary information available for the government personnel to position the systems.

The Vender is responsible to set up the system, and to ensure it is calibrated and functional. It is the responsibility of the vender to ensure that everything necessary for the system to operate as specified is included in the bid and on delivered.

2. Can you confirm if ASTM E1012 alignment calibration will be required in this scope?

A. It will be necessary for every component and function of the system to be calibrated for use upon delivery or at set up. This includes test frame alignment. Should it be found that the system does not meet standards under ISO 17025 requirements, the system will be rejected.

600 kN Servoelectric Tensile Testing Frame Requirements

1. For extensometers, the following requirements are mentioned:

a. Capable of direct strain measurements and closed loop strain control

b. Functional for tensile, compression, and fatigue testing

c. Gauge lengths using 1 or more extensometers to approximately cover ½ inch, 1 inch, and 1.5 inches For each gauge length stated, 0.5 inch, 1 inch and 1.5 inches could you confirm these are the gauge lengths you are looking for? What are the required extensions for these gauge lengths?

A. The specified gage lengths that the extensometers are required to cover are 0.5 inch, 1 inch and 1.5 inches. The extensions of these gauge lengths are required to cover steels such as A514, Aluminums such as 6061, and weld joints for similar materials. These extensions can vary depending on the thickness, cross section, and type of material tested. Dimensions can be found in ASTM E8. If appropriate extensometers for testing steels and aluminums are not specified in bid, the bid will be rejected.

2. ASTM E8, Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials, is mentioned in the specification. Could you provide the exact sections and procedures you are looking to run? Confirm the sample sizes & shapes you would like to use as well as the results you are looking for the software to generate?

A. Section 6 lists the test specimens and procedures for testing. Standard specimens from Figure 1 and 8 are the most common specimens that are tested.

3. ASTM E9, Standard Test Methods of Compression Testing of Metallic Materials at Room Temperature, is mentioned in the specification. Could you provide the exact sections and procedures you are looking to run? Confirm the sample sizes you would like to use as well as the results you are looking for the software to generate?

A. ASTM E9 state all necessary information for bidding on this contract. Materials shall be Hardened Steels HRC 55 or greater. Table 2 specifies specimen sizes.

4. ASTM E 190, Standard Test Method for Guided Bend Test for Ductility of Welds, is mentioned in the specification as something you would like to run in the future. Could you provide the exact sections and procedures you are looking to run? Confirm the sample sizes you would like to use as well as the results you are looking for the software to generate?

A. All sections apply. Sizes can be found in figures 2, 3, 4, and 5.

5. ASTM E 290, Standard Test Methods for Bend Testing of Material for Ductility, is mentioned in the specification as something you would like to run in the future. Could you provide the exact sections and procedures you are looking to run? Confirm the sample sizes you would like to use as well as the results you are looking for the software to generate?

A. Summary of the test methods can be found in in Section 3. All may be used in the future.

6. Are you following any additional specific ASTM/ISO test standards that are not mentioned on the bid?

If so, what are they?

A. Supplementary standards specified within the standards specified in the bid are applicable. For example, Section 2 of ASTM E8 provides supplementary standards, which contain such information as for Verification of Testing Frame and Specimen Alignment… which should be commonly understood for Industry practices.

7. Are there any additional non ASTM specific procedures that you are planning to run with this machine?

A. Not at this time or required for this bid.

250kN Axial Servo hydraulic Fatigue Testing System w/ Extended height frame

1. ASTM E466-15, Standard Practice for Conducting Force Controlled Constant Amplitude Axial Fatigue Tests of Metallic Materials, is mentioned in the specification:

a. Could you provide the exact sections and procedures you are looking to run as well as the required displacements and testing frequencies.

A. Procedures can be found in Section 8 of the standard. Displacements are dependent on the material and size of the specimen, but expect test specimens to be of a between 0.5 inches and 1 inch in diameter for Circular cross sections, and Rectangular specimens may range in area from a half inch squared, to 1 inch squared. Section 7.4 provides frequency details and is where we will focus for the application of this standard.

b. What is the accuracy tolerance for peak value?

A. This would depend on the specimen being tested and the amount of Force applied. If you have a chart demonstrating you accuracies, it would be useful in the evaluation process to include it.

c. Could you also confirm the sample sizes you would like to use as well as the results you are looking for the software to generate?

A. Between 0.5 inches and 1 inch in diameter for Circular cross sections, and Rectangular specimens may range in area from a half inch squared, to 1 inch squared.

d. How many samples are you planning to use per test to generate your SN curves?

This is dependent on the product to be tested and size of the product from which the specimens will be produced from.

A. This is dependent on the range and accuracy of the curve to be generated. Expectedly, at a minimum of 5 specimens would be tested for each stress to determine a range of the cycles at that stress, and account for internal defects that may affect results. If there is a limit to the number of specimens that can be tested in this function by the bidder’s software, or if secondary software will be needed to create SN curves as the bidder’s software cannot generate this data, this should be noted within the bid.

2. ASTM E606-12, Standard Test Method for Strain-Controlled Fatigue Testing, is mentioned in the specification:

A. Sections relating to Strain controlled, force controlled, and stress controlled fatigue testing.

A. Testing is done primarily under constant amplitude cycling and may contain interspersed hold times at repeated intervals. This would depend on the specimen being tested and the amount of displacement. If you have a chart demonstrating you accuracies, it would be useful in the evaluation process to include it.

A. Specimen size ranges from 0.25 inches to 1 inch. Results should be in conjunctions with required standard outputs.

A. This is dependent on the range and accuracy of the curve to be generated. Expectedly, at a minimum of 5 specimens would be tested for each stress to determine a range of the cycles at that stress, and account for internal defects that may affect results. If there is a limit to the number of specimens that can be tested in this function by the bidder’s software, or if secondary software will be needed to create SN curves as the bidder’s software cannot generate this data, this should be noted within the bid.

3. ASTM E1820, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Fracture Toughness, is mentioned in the specification:

A. Straight Through Notch type specimens are to be used. System should be capable of determining

A. This would depend on the specimen being tested and the amount of displacement. If you have a chart demonstrating you accuracies, it would be useful in the evaluation process to include it.

A. Specimen Configurations—The configurations of the standard specimens are shown in Annex A1 – Annex A3. See section 9 for data.

A. We intend to test at a minimum 5 specimens at a particular set of parameters to determine fracture toughness.

4. For extensometers, the following requirements are mentioned:

a. Capable of direct strain measurements and closed loop strain control

b. Functional for tensile, compression, and fatigue testing

c. Gauge lengths using 1 or more extensometers to approximately cover ½ inch, 1 inch, and 1.5 inches For each gauge length stated, 0.5 inch, 1 inch and 1.5 inches could you confirm these are the gauge lengths you are looking for? What are the required extensions for these gauge lengths?

A. These are the correct gauge lengths, as they have been stated in the specifications. The extension should be industry standard for Steel and Aluminum specimens at the above dimensions.