SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Biomechanical Investigations using Human Surrogates
- Notice Date
- 4/16/2012
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541720
— Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration HQ, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- 2012-0115
- Archive Date
- 5/16/2012
- Point of Contact
- Lloyd S. Blackwell, Phone: 202-366-9564
- E-Mail Address
-
lloyd.blackwell@nhtsa.dot.gov
(lloyd.blackwell@nhtsa.dot.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- INTRODUCTION This is a Sources Sought Notice for the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Applied Vehicle Safety Research to identify the availability and capability of sources to design, execute, and completely meet the objectives of the effort described herein. This Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation or use of any information submitted. NHTSA will not provide respondents with receipt or acknowledgment of responses or evaluation of information received. As a result of this Notice, the NHTSA may issue a Request for Proposals. A determination by the NHTSA not to compete this requirement as a set-aside based upon responses to this Notice is solely within the discretion of the NHTSA. Project Description The following list of tasks represents four focus areas in which NHTSA would like to conduct research over the entire period of performance of this agreement. Specific work items shall be discussed and agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor prior to the beginning of each year of this agreement. This approach provides NHTSA and the contractor flexibility to meet changing research needs throughout the period of performance. NHTSA may, based on research priorities and availability of funds, fund any number of the tasks in any given year. • Task 1. Oblique Impact Occupant Response and Biomechanics The purpose of this task is to evaluate human and ATD response in oblique crashes, with principal directions of force ranging between pure frontal and pure lateral. The contractor shall use experimental and computational methods to observe the variation in human response compared to more traditional pure frontal or pure lateral impacts. The contractor shall also evaluate the oblique loading response of ATDs which are intended as frontal or lateral devices (Thor and WorldSID). This work will lead to a better understanding of how occupants respond in oblique crashes and will highlight areas where more research and development are needed. The exact test specifications will be mutually agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor following a review of the literature and relevant field crash data. The contractor shall use NASS-CDS data to evaluate the overall distribution of injuries and crash directions, and shall use the detailed injury data in CIREN cases to identify critical injury causation factors. Vehicle crash tests into a rigid target, utilizing a flying floor to facilitate the range of impact angles, may be required to establish a baseline test condition for human or ATD occupants. Repeat and parametric tests shall be conducted on an impact sled with a test buck representative of a modern vehicle interior with appropriate restraint systems, which will be agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor. Sub-system tests may be used to evaluate individual component responses and to more closely study the biomechanics of the anatomic structures of interest identified in the vehicle and sled testing. Selection of PMHS for testing shall attempt to concentrate on the anthropometry identified as most at-risk from the field data study. Any PMHS specimens shall be evaluated for preexisting injuries prior to the testing, and shall undergo full autopsy following testing to identify induced injuries. Test methods shall focus on recording occupant response and kinematics, with emphasis on restraint performance and interaction with vehicle components. The contractor shall record sensor data from the test subjects and high-speed digital video of the events. High-speed motion capture shall be performed for sled and sub-system tests in order to document occupant kinematics. The proposed methodology must support collection of all relevant data in order to document occupant response and determine injury causation, and must be submitted to NHTSA's biomechanics database in the appropriate format. • Task 2. Advanced ATD and Instrumentation Support New dummy designs require significant evaluation testing before incorporation into Federal standards. This task provides support to NHTSA research for the evaluation of advanced ATDs, on an as-needed basis. The contractor shall maintain the required testing facilities, including sled fixtures for frontal, lateral, and oblique lateral impacts, to provide prompt turnaround for testing needs that arise during the process of dummy development, evaluation, and/or federalization. The contractor shall use sled, pendulum, and/or vehicle tests, as necessary, to evaluate the design and response, repeatability, and reproducibility of the ATDs as specified by NHTSA. Lateral and oblique lateral sled tests shall be conducted on a scalable load wall capable of accommodating different sized occupants while loading individual body regions. It is expected that this task will focus on the Thor and WorldSID dummy families, but may include other designs of interest to NHTSA research throughout the period of performance. Test methods, to be agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor, shall enable measurement of parameters relevant to the objective of the evaluation being performed (i.e. chestbands and internal ATD sensors shall be used to record thoracic deformation in the evaluation of thoracic response). NHTSA will arrange for the delivery of the ATD(s), and will guide the contractor in the conduct of the tests. The contractor shall record sensor data from the test subjects and high-speed digital video of the events. High-speed motion capture shall be performed for sled and sub-system tests in order to document occupant kinematics. The proposed methodology must support collection of all relevant data in order to document occupant response, and must be submitted to NHTSA's biomechanics database in the appropriate format. • Task 3. Lower Spine Biomechanics The objective of this task is to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of lumbar and lower thoracic spine fractures of restrained occupants in planar frontal crashes. An increased frequency of these injuries has been observed in field data, and the nature of the injury types warrants further study. This work will provide an understanding of the vehicle/occupant interactions that lead to lower spine compression fractures, and will support efforts to reduce the incidence of these injuries. This task shall include a review of the literature and of recent field crash data, with emphasis on CIREN cases containing radiology of lower spine injuries. Detailed case reviews shall be conducted, including vehicle component teardown when possible, to determine which crash, occupant, and vehicle characteristics were related to the lower spine fractures. After establishing a set of factors important to the causation of lower spine fractures, NHTSA and the contractor shall develop a series of experimental and computational tests to begin a parametric investigation. The experimental test series shall include full-scale vehicle crash testing, sled testing, and sub-system testing with PMHS and ATDs in order to demonstrate that real-world injuries can be reproduced in the laboratory in a way that facilitates measurement of loading conditions. Successful recreation of real-world injuries will be determined based upon a comparison of outcomes to CIREN cases, and will be agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor. Special attention shall be given to seat cushion and pan design as it relates to pelvic interaction in frontal crash scenarios of belted occupants - the contractor shall disassemble and inspect seat hardware to identify potentially harmful load paths. The contractor shall record sensor data from the test subjects and high-speed digital video of the events. High-speed motion capture shall be performed for sled and sub-system tests in order to document occupant kinematics. The proposed methodology must support collection of all relevant data in order to document occupant response and determine injury causation, and must be submitted to NHTSA's biomechanics database in the appropriate format. Computational testing shall consist of a parametric evaluation of factors identified in field crash and laboratory findings. The objective of the parametric study is to further pinpoint vehicle-based factors that affect lumbar compressive loading in frontal crashes. The contractor must use a validated vehicle and occupant (ATD) model based on appropriate crash test data. The modeling effort shall explore ways in which injurious loading to the lower spine can be reduced without compromising other aspects of occupant safety. Component PMHS testing shall be used to evaluate response and tolerance characteristics for development of injury criteria. This aspect of the lower spine research shall begin with a review of the biomechanical literature to determine whether existing tests provide useful data given the understanding of the mechanisms derived from the vehicle and sled testing. If additional component testing is warranted, the contractor shall develop a fixture to apply similar loading to lower spine motion-segments as seen in the full-scale testing. The test methodology shall be capable of recording response and failure characteristics that will support the development of injury criteria. The contractor shall record sensor data from the test specimens and high-speed digital video of the events. High-speed motion capture shall be performed in order to document motion-segment kinematics. The proposed methodology must support collection of all relevant data in order to document response and determine injury causation, and must be submitted to NHTSA's biomechanics database in the appropriate format. • Task 4. Far-Side Impact Occupant Response The purpose of this task is to evaluate human and ATD response in far-side lateral impacts, in which the impacted side of the vehicle is opposite of where the occupant is seated. The contractor shall use experimental and computational methods to observe occupant response and interaction with vehicle components and restraint systems. This work will lead to a better understanding of how occupants respond in far-side crashes and will highlight areas where more research and development are needed. The exact test specifications will be mutually agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor following a review of the literature and relevant field crash data. The contractor shall use NASS-CDS data to evaluate the overall incidence and risks associated with far-side crashes, and shall use the detailed injury data in CIREN cases to identify critical injury causation factors. Full-scale vehicle crash tests may be required to establish a baseline test condition for human or ATD occupants. Repeat and parametric tests shall be conducted on an impact sled with a test buck representative of a modern vehicle interior with appropriate restraint systems, which will be agreed upon by NHTSA and the contractor. Sub-system tests may be used to evaluate individual component responses and to more closely study the biomechanics of the anatomic structures of interest identified in the vehicle and sled testing. Selection of PMHS for testing shall attempt concentrate on the anthropometry identified as most at-risk from the field data study. Any PMHS specimens shall be evaluated for preexisting injuries prior to the testing, and shall undergo full autopsy following testing to identify induced injuries. Test methods shall focus on recording occupant response and kinematics, with emphasis on interactions between the occupant and vehicle interior components. The contractor shall record sensor data from the test subjects and high-speed digital video of the events. High-speed motion capture shall be performed for sled and sub-system tests in order to document occupant kinematics. The proposed methodology must support collection of all relevant data in order to document occupant response and determine injury causation, and must be submitted to NHTSA's biomechanics database in the appropriate format. Format of Corporate Capabilities Statement: Any interested organizations should submit the Corporate Capability Statement which demonstrates the firm's ability and interest in no more than 6 pages to meet the objectives described. All proprietary information should be marked as such. All respondents are asked to indicate the type and size of their business organization, e.g., Large business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned-Business, 8(A), Historically Black College or University/Minority Institution (HBCU/MI), educational institution, profit/non-profit organization, in their response. Interested offerors shall respond to this Sources Sought Notice no later than 15 calendar days from date of posting. E-mail is the preferred method when receiving responses to this Notice.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOT/NHTSA/NHTSAHQ/2012-0115/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: TBD, United States
- Record
- SN02723209-W 20120418/120416235219-886a7cde49e76f451f6a090262354495 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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