Notice of Intent to Sole Source - High Temperature Furnace and Grips

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT AND IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTES.

High Temperature Furnace and Grips

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Glenn Research Center (GRC) has a requirement for a 1500°C high temperature furnace and fully reversed fatigue rated grips to be used for testing of metallic and composite samples on an existing MTS 810 servo-hydraulic test frame. Specifically, the furnace and grips must meet the minimum requirements:

One 1500°C High Temperature Furnace and specifications consisting of the following:

1. Three zone hybrid furnace: MoSi2 center zone and kanthal top and bottom zones
2. Must be capable of achieving specimen temperatures from 700°C to 1500°C
3. Must heat to 1500°C from room temperature in less than 3 hours
4. Clamshell design that opens wide to maximize accessibility for specimen and grip installation
5. Must easily return to test (closed) position to maintain repeatability between tests
6. Must be designed to accommodate MTS and other high-temperature axial extensometers
7. Must have dual extensometer ports with interchangeable inserts
8. Must have dual thermocouple ports with interchangeable inserts
9. Ridid column mounting design to minimize vibration induced disturbances
10. Temperature controller
11. Must include furnace mounting hardware to existing MTS 810 load frame with 2.5” diameter columns with a center to center column spacing of 23.5”

1500°C High Temperature Grips and specifications consisting of the following:

1. Must be engineered to work with 1500°C furnace to enable precise control of thermal gradients
2. Thermal shielding and integral cooling must enable grip to work at temperatures to 1500°C and reduce overall thermal gradient while protecting the grip materials from excessive temperature (over 1000°C) enabling long life performance
3. This grip must be provided with ceramic heat shields for improved durability
4. Allow for specimen temperatures up to 1500°C
5. Less than 1% thermal gradient over the specimen gage length
6. Rated at 25kN for round specimens
7. Rated at 4-7kN for flat specimens
8. Must maintain constant preload on specimen through test loading
9. Must maintain accurate alignment and low bending strains
10. Must achieve less than 5% bending strain on a representative test specimen
11. Must include integrated grip over temperature protection
12. Must include air colling assembly
13. Must include water cooling assembly
14. Must include flat specimen interfaces (includes chamber and piston rod): wedge set, high temp 0-.188 (0-4.77mm)
15. Must include threaded round specimen interfaces (includes chamber and piston rod): ¼-28 and ½-20 threaded adapters
16. Specimen geometry should have a max overall length of 150 mm with 28 mm threaded length at each end
17. Must be capable of 5 Hz or more fully reversed loading
18. Must interface with 1”-14 threads on existing MTS 810 load frame

Includes one week on site installation and training. Delivery 9 months after receipt of order. NAICS is 334519.

NASA intends to award a Firm-Fixed-Price sole source contract under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 – Only One Responsible Source to:

MTS Systems Corporation, 14000 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344-2290

The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.

Interested organizations may submit their capabilities statements to perform the effort electronically via email to Matthew Sivic at matthew.sivic@nasa.gov no later than 1:00 pm EST on November 22, 2026. The capabilities statement must be submitted in either Word or PDF and must contain clear and convincing evidence that competition for this requirement would be advantageous to the Government. This notice does not constitute a solicitation and any cost associated with preparation and submission of data or any other cost incurred in response to this announcement are the sole responsibility of the respondent and will not be reimbursed by the Government. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this acquisition on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.

NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf