Characterization and Fatigue Testing of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloys

NASA's Shared Services Center is procuring characterization and fatigue testing services for oxide dispersion strengthened alloys in support of an additively manufactured handbook under the authority of a sole source procurement. The services are intended to advance additive manufacturing technologies for aerospace applications, including liquid rocket propulsion systems and large-scale space exploration structures. Key requirements include conducting literature reviews on three specified alloys (GRX-810, Alloy 754-ODS, and ORCAlloy-21), performing comprehensive mechanical characterization using scanning electron microscopy and computed tomography scanning, and executing room temperature fatigue testing on a minimum of 60 GRX-810 samples under both low cycle and high cycle fatigue conditions. The Government's evaluation will assess whether Auburn University remains the sole capable provider or whether to proceed with competitive procurement based on responses submitted by interested organizations; evaluation criteria are restricted to assessing capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort. The deadline for interested organizations to submit capabilities and qualifications is 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on April 6, 2026, with the primary point of contact being Kacey Hickman, Procurement Specialist.

This procurement does not include any set-aside designations and currently identifies Auburn University as the intended sole source contractor. No specific award value or budget range is disclosed in the solicitation notice. The contract period of performance is nine months from the Authority to Proceed, during which the contractor must deliver data summary sheets for tensile and fatigue properties, organized raw datasets for mechanical tests and microscopic characterization, and draft or published technical reports—with a minimum of one paper or report per alloy. Performance will be conducted at Auburn University (321-A Ingram Hall, Auburn, Alabama 36849), though work is being coordinated with NASA's Langley Research Center and deliverables will be shipped to Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.