Load Cells for Structural Testing

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial equipment/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The Structures Group in the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) performs research to enhance the ability of structures in the United States to 1) resist damage from various hazards (e.g., blast, wind, and seismic hazards) and 2) recover from and adapt to hazards that result in damage. To this end, the Structures Group is expanding upon a recently completed experimental research effort that focused on mitigating disproportionate collapse of buildings in the United States. The final phase of that effort involved experimentally testing precast concrete beam-column connection assemblies produced at 5/8 scale and that featured novel connection concepts developed by NIST researchers in collaboration with an industry review committee of Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) members. These assemblies were subjected to static pushdown testing that simulated a column-removal scenario for disproportionate collapse applications. The test results showed that the connection concepts were viable for use in precast concrete construction to achieve robust performance against disproportionate collapse. 

The current experimental research effort involves structural testing of full-scale precast concrete beam-column connection assemblies under forces that simulate those imposed by earthquakes. The assemblies will feature the previously tested connection concepts to establish whether these connections can perform adequately under various hazards acting asynchronously.

Requirements:

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described below:

Line Item 0001: Stainless Steel Load Washer

Quantity: 6

The load cell washers shall meet the following minimum requirements:

• Through hole inner diameter greater than 2.5 in. and less than 3 in.
• Outer diameter of the load cell body less than 6 in.
• Load cell height less than 6 in.
• Rated compressive capacity of at least 225 kip/1000 kN
• Integral electrical cable connection with a cable length of at least 9 ft.
• Stainless steel construction
• Ingress Protection (IP67) rating
• Excitation voltage between 2 and 12 VDC

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or .pdf format, in the response: Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in this notice.  For each equipment recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  • Manufacturer name
  • Product details
  • Please identify whether the potential product is manufactured in whole or in part in the United States. If it is manufactured outside of the United States, in whole or in part, please identify the country of manufacture.
  • Design specifications
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the equipment(s)

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

• • Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business.  See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.

• • If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of equipment addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement. 

• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration).

• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by May 15, 2026, 12:00 p.m. ET. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

The responses shall not exceed 3 pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!