ESA Open Invitation To Tender AO8273
Open Date: 28/04/2015
Closing Date: 23/06/2015

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 14.1QM.14
Prog. Ref.: GSTP Period 6 E1 PRJ
Budget Ref.: E/0904-611 – GSTP Period 6 E1 PRJ
Special Prov.: B+F+D+NL+IRL+A
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Technical & Quality Manag
Department: Product Assurance and Safety Department
Division: Materials & Components Technology Divisi
Contract Officer: Almeida, Rudolfo
Last Update Date: 28/04/2015
Update Reason: Tender issue

The limits of the design freedom brought by the use of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies is today not established, even if potential benefits are considered very high. The benefit brought by using different features shall be better assessed in order to help the designers. Among the possibilities, topographic optimisation can significantly reduce the mass of hardware (many tens of percentage), suppressing interfaces leads to significant mass savings, integrating several functions can allow new applications and limitcontrols and verifications. The benefits brought by any of the above (including environment related) is today not quantified and the overall impact on cost is to be established. A design approach addressing to the full extent the features allowed by AM from a manufacturing viewpoint is of key importance. Such capability can be initiated by using a number of selected study cases. The main objectives of the activity are therefore to: 1. Re-assess and optimise the design of spacecraft hardware (e.g. antenna, thrusters, etc.)making use to the full extent of the design freedom provided by AM. The designs should be evaluated in terms of mass, interfaces, environmental impact and cost, 2. Manufacture and test at least 2 of these parts. The requirements driving the application shall be critically reviewed and elegant breadboards complying with these requirements will be manufactured, controlled and tested.

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