Inactive

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... 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. Administration: See full announcement attached to this notice. 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.