FOLLOWING THE CREW EXPLORATION VEHICLE (CEV) SMART BUYER DESIGN EFFORT, THE NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CEN…

Public award description

FOLLOWING THE CREW EXPLORATION VEHICLE (CEV) SMART BUYER DESIGN EFFORT, THE NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CENTER HAS BEEN PERFORMING FOLLOW-ON WORK TO DETERMINE IF THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS OR EFFICIENCIES THAT CAN BE GAINED FROM A COMPOSITE PRESSURIZED VESSEL DESIGN. THE TEAM DEVELOPED THREE DIFFERENT COMPOSITE CONCEPTS THAT PROVIDED THE NECESSARY DATA TO SHOW THAT A COMPOSITE PRESSURIZED VESSEL IS ACHIEVABLE AND COMPARABLE TO THE METALLIC DESIGNS. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS PRELIMINARY DESIGN WORK, THE ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR EXPLORATION SYSTEMS MISSION DIRECTORATE HAS REQUESTED THAT THE NESC FORM AN NASA/DOD/INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP FOR COMPOSITE SPACECRAFT STRUCTURAL DESIGN TO FURTHER EXPLORE AND QUANTIFY THESE POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO EXAMINE THE EFFICACY OF BUILDING COMPOSITE CREW MODULES FOR FUTURE HUMAN SPACE SYSTEMS. OBJECTIVES: IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT FUTURE SPACECRAFT WILL REQUIRE INEXPENSIVE AND LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURES TO ACHIEVE MASS REQUIREMENTS FOR MISSIONS TO LOW EARTH ORBIT, THE LUNAR SURFACE, AND BEYOND. POLYMERIC COMPOSITE MATERIALS MAY PROVIDE REQUIRED COST AND MASS SAVINGS DUE TO THEIR HIGHER SPECIFIC STRENGTH, REDUCED MANUFACTURING COSTS AND PART COUNT, IMPROVED DURABILITY, ETC. IN ORDER TO ACCELERATE SCHEDULE AND MINIMIZE RISK FOR A NEW NASA LED COMPOSITE PRESSURE SHELL APPLICATION, NASA WILL LEVERAGE EXISTING DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING METHODOLOGIES PERTAINING TO 3D WOVEN PI PREFORMS. THE RELEVANT EXPERIENCE WAS DEVELOPED ON PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER (JSF) AND COMPOSITE AFFORDABILITY INITIATIVE (CAI). DESCRIPTION OF TASKS TO BE PERFORMED: THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE DETAILED INFORMATION IN DESIGN AREAS SUCH AS PI PREFORM TERMINATIONS, PI PREFORM INTERSECTIONS, PI PREFORM ALLOWABLE CAPABILITY, PI PREFORM CAPABILITY WITH OVERWRAPS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL ALSO PROVIDE DETAILED SUPPORT FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH AS SURFACE PREPARATION METHODS, BAGGING SCHEMES, OVERPRESS PARTS, GAP ALLOWANCES, AND QUALITY CONTROL INDICATORS. FINALLY, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE TESTING SUPPORT, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE FIXTURES, TEST METHODS, AND ANALYSIS CORRELATION METHODS. SUBTASK 1 - PARTICIPATION ON THE ON-SITE COMPOSITE CREW MODULE TEAM THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PARTICIPATE WITH THE NASA LED TEAM IN DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATION FOR TECHNICAL AREAS SPECIFIED BELOW. THE PARTICIPATION INCLUDES ON-SITE INTERACTION WITH THE COMPOSITE CREW MODULE TEAM (NASA + CONTRACTORS). CO-LOCATION EVENTS WILL BE AS NECESSARY. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PLAN ON A 1-WEEK TRIP EVERY 3 MONTHS TO EITHER NASA/GSFC (GREENBELT, MD), NASA/MSFC (HUNTSVILLE, AL) OR MANUFACTURE FACILITY (TBD LOCATION) FOR THE PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE. AS A MEMBER OF THE COMPOSITE CREW MODULE TEAM, THE VENDOR SHALL WORK WITH OTHER INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS WHO ARE ALREADY A PART OF THE TEAM. INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS NOW INCLUDE ATK, NORTHROP GRUMMAN, SWALES, COLLIER INDUSTRIES, AND SDA, INC. SUBTASK 2 PI PERFORM COUPON TESTING THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY MANPOWER AND EXPERTISE TO SUPPORT THE INITIAL PI PREFORM COUPON TESTING, BASED ON THEIR EXTENSIVE WORK DEVELOPING DESIGN ALLOWABLES FOR THE JSF PROGRAM AND SIMILAR COUPON TESTING FOR THE CAI PROGRAM. AS PART OF THIS SUPPORT, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DESIGN AND DELIVER FIXTURES FOR COUPON BONDING, SILICONE OVERPRESS ARTICLES FOR CURING, AND PULL-OFF AND SHEAR TESTS, ALL OF WHICH ARE BASED ON HERITAGE DESIGNS FROM THE CAI PROGRAM. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE ON-SITE SUPPORT AT NASA/MSFC DURING THE COUPON COBONDING PROCESS AND GUIDE COUPON FABRICATION. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE ANALYSIS GUIDANCE FOR RELATING COMPOSITE CREW MODULE TEST DATA TO FLIGHT GEOMETRY BASED ON EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE WITH PI PREFORM PERFORMANCE. IN ADDITION, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE PERFORMANCE SENSITIVITIES TO PARAMETERS SUCH AS OVERWRAP, SUCH THAT THESE CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO THE DESIGN. SUBTASK 3 FLOOR-TO-DOME ATTACHMENT DESIGN SUPPORT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE DESIGN A