PE Film Winding Sources Sought Notice 02142020.docx

W911QY-20-S-0005

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Wound tube(s) constructed from UHMWPE tape

Objective:

This is a Request for Information (RFI) for planning purposes only. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for the information solicited. No solicitation document exists or is guaranteed to be issued as a result of this RFI.

The Combat Capability Development Command – Soldier Center, located in Natick Massachusetts is seeking information on the capabilities and willingness of private entities (academic, non-profit and commercial) for fabricating prototype PE film tubes for ballistic evaluation from PE tape materials.

Background:

Drawn PE films and tapes have been in development by industry for several years with recent successes in disentangling PE polymer chains and creating highly drawn (oriented) PE films with very high strength. These PE film are now becoming available as tape materials between 2mm and 130mm wide with a nominal thickness of 50 µm. Bobbins of material can be supplied with up to 9000m running length to minimize splicing. These films have also recently been crossplied, similar to fiber based PE products, to produce shield materials at the lab/pilot scale. From these initial lines, industry has produced ballistic data to support further development of these film materials into armor products and how to process them into 3D geometry.

Automated filament and fiber winding is a proven additive manufacturing technology for multiple applications, such as torsion shafts or high pressure cylinders using other engineering materials. By using industry standard tube winding technology, we can further investigate the ballistic properties of these film materials by placing them in curved structures (tubes) while maintaining +45/-45 film orientation as the tube is wound.

It is assumed that standard filament winding process would need to me modified to accommodate tape materials of prescribed width.

Requirements.

Vendor shall use stock materials which could be sourced from multiple vendors or be single source in varying material configuration. Materials are available in a form suitable for fabrication, i.e. no material slitting required prior to winding. Vendors shall provide suitable mandrels to meet required tube size dimensions, although alternate mandrel sizes may be considered based on availability and cost. Vendors shall use appropriate industrial winding equipment to fabricate tubes to meet dimensional requirements, maintain +45/-45 orientation and without twisting. Vendor shall have suitable equipment to post process dry wound tubes to a maximum of 300F and 200psi, per government direction, prior to mandrel removal. Delivery of a first article (FA) tube will be required prior to authorization of additional tubes of undetermined quantity (8 minimum). It is understood that the first FA tube will be of higher cost, due to nonrecurring engineering and tooling, so tube cost should be broken out per the delivery table below. Total number of tubes will be dependent on the types/vendors of film available.

Anticipated Materials configurations (subject to change):

A) Tape width: 2mm, 4mm, 130mm, other B) Tape thickness: 50-60µm C) Pure PE film (no binder or resin) D) Bobbin running length: 9000m for 2mm wide, 4500m for 4mm wide, or other E) Nominal bobbin dimensions: 4” diameter core X ~11 long

Prototype Tube(s) general requirements:

A) Stock PE provided as GFM.

B) Tube dimension: 9-10” diameter X 36” long X 0.1” wall thickness. Dimensions apply to post processed tube.

C) Ends: Open, to allow for corner turning on subsequent passes and mandrel removal.

D) No twisting of tapes in the usable tube section length.

E) Winding: continuous, however splicing may be required to meet final tube dimensions.

F) As delivered tubes shall be of suitable integrity to handle and cut into smaller sections for post processing and/or evaluation.

G) Additional resins or binders shall not be added to the PE tape to promote interlayer adhesion.

Deliverables:

1. Prototype and deliver one first article wound PE tube per defined specifications, subject to government inspection prior to fabrication of remaining prototypes.

2. Prototype TBD quantity PE tubes from Government furnished materials. Minimum order of 8 including FA unit.

FA only, price as only

Material A

Material A, B

Material A, B, C

3. Process document to show processing parameters used for each tube by Serial number. Process parameters should include: winding sequence, base material ID, average “green” wound thickness, post processing autoclave pressure and temperature profile, final tube weight and critical dimensions.

Timeline:

Development timeline is contingent on contract award and funding availability. Notional WBS and IMS shall be submitted as part of preproposal and detailed WBS / IMS with the full proposal if requested. Multiple awards may be available.

Performance Objectives:

When responding to this RFI, please provide responses for objective listed above and limit responses to 2-5 pages. Responses should include current industry capabilities from interested entities.

Administration:

The Government will retain comments and information received in response to this RFI. Proprietary information should be identified as Company Proprietary. Do not use Government security classification markings. All written responses must be received by. Responses should be sent by e-mail to: richard.w.totten2.civ@mail.mil and jonathan.j.galnares.civ@mail.mil with the Subject “CCDC Wound tubes”.

The mission of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command-Soldier Center (CCDC-SC) is to “To provide the research, engineering, and analytical expertise to deliver capabilities that enable the Army to deter and, when necessary, decisively defeat any adversary now and in the future”, with a focus to “Optimize and modernize Soldier/squad performance, and increase combat readiness and lethality in order to ensure dominance in multi-domain operations”.

General information on CCDC SC can be obtained from the CCDC SC website at https://www.army.mil/ccdc.

Under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2371b, CCDC SC seeks to award funding through Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs or Agreements) to non-traditional and traditional defense contractors for prototype projects within CCDC SC’s Areas of Interest identified in solicitation NSRDEC-BOTAA-17-01 available at https://www3.natick.army.mil/. CCDC SC is interested in efforts directed toward the development of enabling technologies that speed up the advanced development process.