Notice of Intent to Sole Source Purchase of a Bruker Nanoindenter

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center – Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) has a requirement for a Brunker Nanoindenter test system. ERDC intends to award a purchase order on a sole source basis to Bruker Nano, Inc. in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1).

Market research indicates that Bruker Nano, Inc. is the only source for this requirement because this system is unique in that it utilizes electrostatic actuation rather than electromagnetic actuation to ensure that thermal drift due to Joule heating is not introduced.

Additionally force actuation and displacement sensing are combined in a single actuator to allow for the use of either method de-pending on testing needs, Thermal drift of the nanoindentation head is less than 0.05 nm/sec, and the load transducer is rated for up to 10N. This system has the capability to perform high speed mechanical property matching and can per-form up to 4 nanoindentation measurements per second resulting in a large increase in capacity of samples that can be conducted per day.

The system has an integrated anti vibration system to minimize noise in sample collection which is critical as the CMB has the potential for large vibrations to occur when some testing is conducted on the load frames. This is a notice of intent to sole source synopsis, not a solicitation or a request for competitive quotations. This is not a set-aside of any kind.

Any interested party that believes they should be considered as capable of fulfilling this requirement should submit a capability statement of their related products or services to be reviewed for technical content. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete the contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

All submissions will be considered, however there is no guarantee that submissions in response to this notice will in any way alter the Government’s acquisition strategy. Please provide responses to this notice no later than the time listed above in this notice to:

Christine.L.Shuck@usace.army.mil. All responses shall have the title of this opportunity in the Subject Line of the submission. Telephone responses will not be accepted.