Market Survey: Torsion Bar to External Spring and Damper Conversion Investigation

DESCRIPTION OF INTENT: THIS IS A MARKET SURVEY REQUESTING INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING POTENTIAL REQUIREMENT. No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation, nor is it a request seeking contractors to be placed on a solicitation mailing list. Response to this survey is voluntary and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this market survey and any follow-on information requests. Data submitted in response to this market survey will not be returned. No solicitation document exists at this time, and calls requesting a solicitation will not be answered. TOPIC: TARDEC is conducting a market survey to identify potential sources with the expertise necessary to support the rapid modification of Bradley vehicles from a torsion bar suspension system to an external spring and damper system, including squat capability. The suspension systems that satisfy all of the requirements below may be evaluated via modeling and simulation, and have the potential to be purchased and tested in a lab or on a Bradley vehicle of the Governments choosing. Emphasis should be placed on ready to field, low cost solutions that have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7 or higher currently. The suspension systems must be applicable and adaptable to the military environment. This environment includes extreme ambient operating conditions from -40'C to 60'C (-40 to 140 Fahrenheit), storage conditions of -51'C to 71'C (-60 to 160 Fahrenheit), as well as extreme shock and vibration outlined in MIL-STD-810. Both our soldiers and vehicle components must be capable of operating effectively within this environment. TARDEC is requesting information on proven suspension system technologies for the conversion of torsion bar suspensions to external spring and damper configurations, which are to include squat capability. The Government is looking for technologies that require little to no changes to the vehicle to integrate, and that can be purchased now or quickly modified and purchased within 6 months, using existing manufacturing processes if possible, for this request. If vehicle modifications are required, please specify the required changes, the amount of time, and level of effort needed to make the system effective. Responders to this survey should clearly and briefly address the topic category as well as address the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION requested below. QUESTIONS: Proven external spring and damping technologies Objectives: - To evaluate and analyze proven spring and damping system technologies that could be used to convert Bradley vehicles from internal torsion bar and external linear dampers to external spring and damper solutions. These technologies are to include squat capability of greater than 5 inches from normal ride height. Responders to this market survey should clearly and briefly address: - Proven spring and damping technologies - Describe available solutions. - Describe the mechanisms involved in vehicle squat and return. - Provide any test or analysis results/reports quantifying off-road mobility, safety, and durability of existing systems within the range of the Bradley vehicle weight, weight distribution, and center of gravity locations of the current Bradley fleet (90,000 lbs. or 45 US tons) - Describe any additional work/modifications required to implement if it's not a direct one for one swap/replacement. - Approximate cost for a vehicle kit. Does your company have currently developed external spring and damping system technology, with squat capability, which can be integrated onto existing Bradley vehicles with weight of 90,000 lbs. or 45 US tons, with a total required average per-station component weight of less than 463 lbs. for twelve stations? Does your company currently have an external suspension system technology demonstration Bradley-like vehicle that you have already integrated your technology into? Notes: The overall goal of this investigation is to find existing technology that can be employed or slightly modified to achieve the goals of improving system survivability through the elimination of torsion bars, and improving air and rail transportability through the provision of a squatting function. Further, the designs and materials must be suitable to: i. Remove of all torsion bars ii. Provide squat capability iii. Have a minimum technology readiness level (TRL) of 3 without additional testing or development. iv. Not add to overall vehicle weight v. Not require the addition of any vehicle internal equipment, e.g., hydraulics, nitrogen systems, etc. vi. Have an estimated cost of replacement equipment below $85,000 vii. Meet or exceed all current Bradley performance requirements viii. Field installation and repair of any investigated suspension system options is desired. ix. All suspension system options must be compatible with the current T-161 Bradley track system, with lightweight track pins and roadwheels x. A desired life of the suspension hardware is greater than 5000 miles xi. Current Bradley suspension physical relationships are: a. Roadarm to damper motion ratio is 1.2:1 b. Center of gravity location is 51 inches aft of center of sprocket and 1.3 inches right of center c. Center of roadarm pivots are aft of sprocket center by 19.4, 47.5, 78.4, 116.4, 145, and 173 inches on the left hand side. The right hand pivot points are 4.5 inches forward of the left hand side d. Center of roadwheel axles are aft of sprocket center by 33.5, 61.6, 92.5, 130.5, 159.1, and 187.1 inches on the left hand side. The right hand axles are 4.5 inches forward of the left hand side positions. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 1. Each response is requested to include: a) A brief (no more than one page) company description, history, and industry experience. b) An executive summary (no more than one page) of the information submitted in reply to this market survey. c) Point(s)-of-Contact (POC) with associated information. d) A brief narrative of any internal or external programs that may be leveraged to assist in the R&D of the described technology e) A brief outline of the technologies function and supporting calculations regarding the technologies ability to support the weight range of the Bradley mentioned above. f) A brief plan for the application of a systems engineering approach as outlined by DoD Directive 5000.1. 2. Each response is requested to document any prior related government work experience. 3. Each response should be no more than 10 pages in total. 4. Each response should include a completed version of Attachment A. RESPONSES DUE: Responses to this Market Survey are due by January 8th, 2018. Please submit all responses and any questions prior to full response to Mr. Joel Litchfield via email at joel.a.litchfield2.civ@mail.mil. Please format the subject line of the response email as follows; "[Organization Name] response to Market Survey - Torsion Bar to External Spring and Damper Conversion Investigation " RESPONSE FORMAT(S): Only electronic responses are requested. Please provide responses in any of the following formats: Microsoft word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Power Point. Please do not send Zip Files or hard copies via mail. The maximum size of each e-mail should be not more than three and one-half (3.5) megabytes. You may use multiple e-mail messages. The subject line must include message 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3 etc., as well as [Organization Name]. All interested entities *e.g. companies, non-profit organizations, and academic institutes, regardless of size, are encouraged to respond to this request for information. GENERAL INFORMATION: The Government appreciates the time and effort taken to respond to this survey. The Government acknowledges its obligations under 18 U.S.C. - 1905 to protect information qualifying as "CONFIDENTIAL" under this statute. Pursuant to this statute, the Government is willing to accept any trade secret or confidential restrictions placed on qualifying data forwarded in response to the survey questions and to protect it from unauthorized disclosure subject to the following: 1. Clearly and conspicuously mark qualifying data as trade secret or confidential with the restrictive legend (all caps) "PROPRIETARY" with any explanatory text, so that the Government is clearly notified of what data needs to be appropriately protected. 2. In marking such data, please take care to mark only those portions of the data or materials that are truly trade secret or confidential (over breadth in marking inappropriate data as "PROPRIETARY" may diminish or eliminate the usefulness of your response - see item 6 below). Use circling, underscoring, highlighting or any other appropriate means to indicate those portions of a single page which are to be protected 3. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data. Additionally, marked data that is already in the public domain or in the possession of the Government or third parties, or is afterward placed into the public domain by the owner or another party through no fault of the Government will not be protected once in the public domain. Data already in the possession of the Government will be protected in accordance with the Government's rights in the data, 4. Confidential data transmitted electronically, whether by physical media or not, whether by the respondent or by the government, shall contain any restrictive legend, with any explanatory text, on both the cover of the transmittal e-mail and at the beginning of the file itself. Where appropriate for portions only of an electronic file, use the restrictive legends PROPRIETARY PORTION BEGINS:" and "PROPRIETARY PORTION ENDS". 5. In any reproductions of technical data or any portions thereof subject to asserted restrictions, the government shall also reproduce the asserted restriction legend and any explanatory text. 6. The Government sometimes uses support contractors in evaluating responses. Consequently, responses that contain proprietary information may receive only limited or no consideration since the respondent's marking of data as "PROPRIETARY" will preclude disclosure of same outside the Government and therefore will preclude disclosure to these support contractors assisting in the evaluation effort. The Government will use its best efforts to evaluate those responses that contain proprietary information without using support contractors consistent with the resources available. Instructions to Offeror Complete the matrix for the specification with the following instructions for each column. Requirement Compliance: Yes, No, or Unknown Value: State values or range of values achievable with proposed approach (as applicable) Basis of Assessment: Level 1 - Eng. Judgment Level 2 - Eng. Analysis Level 3 - Interim Test Level 4 - Objective Test Proposed Performance Trade-Off Candidate: Yes or No Comments: -Explain Nature/extent of Performance Shortfall - Explain Nature/Extent and Rationale for Proposed Performance Trade-Off Specification Requirement Compliance Value Basis of Assessment Proposed Performance Trade-Off Comments All torsion bars removed Squat capability of X inches provided TRL 7 Vehicle weight neutral No internal equipment added Cost of modifications below $58,000 Meet or exceed all Bradley performance requirements Field installation capable Compatible with current Bradley sprocket, roadwheels, and track Estimated life > 5000 miles