ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9032
Open Date: 30/08/2017
Closing Date: 20/10/2017 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 17.133.10
Prog. Ref.: GSTP Element 1 Dev
Budget Ref.: E/0904-611 – GSTP Element 1 Dev
Special Prov.: BE+DE+IE+SE+GB
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Launchers / Materials / Composite Materials / Matrix Structure: Metal (Al, Ti, C)
Satellites & Probes / Materials / Composite Materials / Matrix Structure: Metal (Al, Ti, C)
Techology Domains: Materials and Processes / Materials Processes / Advanced Materials Manufacture
Materials and Processes / Materials Processes / Characterisation and Feedback
Materials and Processes / Novel Materials and Materials Technology Includes materials not yet used in space but presenting potential interest. / Material Assessment
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: Product Assurance and Safety Department
Division: Materials & Components Technology Divisi
Contract Officer: Jeusset, Benjamin
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 30/08/2017
Update Reason: Tender issue

One of the main challenges in Additive manufacturing is to master all the steps ensuring that the final product is of sufficient quality to be used in a space mission.The first element to take into consideration is the raw material, normally a powder, that will be processed until obtaining a high end part. In this activity, an iterativeapproach will be used to unambiguously identify the main requirements for metallicpowder procurement. This activity will target one of the priority materials identified in the harmonisation roadmap (i.e. Titanium, Aluminium, Inconel and Invar), but further materials can be proposed.The activity will consist of the following tasks:- Task 1: A generic space product will be designed that- benefits from the specific material to be validated- has dimensions compatible with the AM machines used to process the powder and- includes challenging features for processing using thosemachines.- Task 2: After a survey of the European landscape for 3D printing metallic raw material, several batches of powder will be distributed to institutes/companieshaving in-depth expertise in powder characterisation for benchmarking their powder characterisation methodology. The outcome of the benchmark will becross-verified.- Task 3: The European expertise on 3D printing of the specific metal will then be reviewed and the different batches of powder will be processed by selectedservice providers, i.e. using different machines and different set-up. Test specimens and generic designed product (Task 0) will be manufactured. Theproduced specimens will be independently tested by the Contractor prior and after post treatments (HIP, tempering etc.). The generic designed product willalso be evaluated.- Task 4: Based on the outcome of Tasks 1 and 2, a powder procurement specification guideline will be prepared and new batches metallic powders willbe procured accordingly. Their characteristics will be determined by few institutes/companies, among the ones selected within Task 1 (based on thework they produced within Task 1) and independently characterised as wellby the Contractor. The powder batches will be dispatched to some of the serviceproviders based on the work they produced within Task 2. Samples and generic designed products will be produced and tested.- Task 5: Based on the outcome of the previous tasks, the Contractor will issue a list of recommendations for metallic powder procurement and verifications tobe performed to validate the suitability of the powder for being used for making space hardware using Additive manufacturing technology.

If you wish to access the documents related to the Invitation to Tender, you have to log in to the ESA Portal.