HYSTERESISGRAPH

This is a sources sought notice. The purpose of this notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516– Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a Small Business Size Standard of 1000 employees. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB), or any commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. NIST will not pay for any information submitted in response to this notice. Submission of information is voluntary and will not result in any obligation on the part of the Government. NIST has not yet determined its acquisition strategy for this requirement and encourages interested sources to respond to this Notice.

NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME

Requests for solicitation documents will not receive a response. Respondents shall clearly mark any proprietary or restricted information. In the absence of such markings, NIST will assume unlimited rights to all technical data submitted.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Materials Science and Engineering Division (MSED) is involved in the development of standard reference materials (SRMs) for magnetic materials – critical standards for measuring magnetic materials for next generation permanent magnets for motors, electrical transformers and many other applications.  NIST magnetic SRMs are the only source of SRMs for calibrating magnetometers and thus providing traceable and quantitative magnetic measurements.  NIST is developing new materials and SRMs for permanent magnet measurement.  The purpose of this procurement is to acquire a hysteresisgraph, used by industry for rapidly characterizing permanent magnets at high magnetic fields and temperatures.  This work is in line with the NIST mission for advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance national security and improve our quality of life, as well as MML’s mission of researching industrial and environmental materials and the dissemination of tools including procedures, data and best practice guides.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

The Contractor shall provide one (1) new hysteresisgraph that meets the following minimum technical requirements. 

System Requirements:

• • Electromagnet (including pole pieces, power supply, polarity switch (if appropriate), fluxmeters, thermocouples, etc.):
    • Pole Pieces:
      • Diameter: ≥ 40 mm
      • Maximum Gap: at least 50 mm
      • Setting resolution: micrometers
    • Magnetic Field Range with 2.0 mm - 2.5 mm gap:

                                           at least ± 3.2 T (FeCo pole pieces)

                                           at least ± 2.4 T (heated pole pieces)

• • • Fluxmeter:
      • Accuracy: at least ± 0.5 %
      • Drift: < 1 digit/minute
    • Temperature Range for heated pole pieces: at least 20 oC – 200 oC
    • Measurable Shapes: at least cylinder, parallelogram, and ring
    • Power Supply: 25 A (maximum output current)
  • Software Measurement:
    • Variable Measurement Time: < 30 seconds (minimum)
    • at least 2 or 4 quadrant hysteresis loop
    • Remanence (Br): ±1 % (accuracy)
    • Normal Coercivity (HcB): ±1.5 % (accuracy)
    • Intrinsic Coercivity (HcJ): ±1.5 % (accuracy)
    • Maximum energy Product (BHmax): ±2 % (accuracy)
    • Also, Hknee, HA, BA, µrecoil, Jsat, Hsat, temperature coefficients like αBr, αHcJ, etc.
  • Two (2) Manuals
  • Operational compliance with standard ASTM A977

Operating Conditions:

This system will be required to operate at ambient temperature and humidity conditions.  However, the contractor shall specify the limits of environmental conditions consistent with sound operation of their systems.  These can include, but are not limited to, temperature, humidity (RH% and condensing/non-condensing), and potential interference from magnetic fields, electric fields, radio waves, microwaves (e.g. ovens), and fluorescent lighting.

Safety and Shielding:

The contractor shall provide all safety devices needed to assure the safe operation of the electromagnets as mounted in the hysteresisgraph.  This may include, but is not limited to, Faraday cages for shielding of the unit from external magnetic fields and of external property from the fields generated by the electromagnets and electrical insulation to prevent accidental contact.

RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
To help NIST with its market research, NIST is requesting that industry sources carefully review this notice and any attachments to it and voluntarily provide the following information: 

1. Company Summary

• Notice Identification: Notice ID and Title of this posting.
• Corporate Details: Company name, physical address, website address, and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).
• Point of Contact (POC): Name, phone number, and email address.
• Company Size Standard: Your company’s size status relative to the NAICS code provided in this Notice. (Refer to the SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards).
• System for Award Management (SAM) Registration: Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in SAM.gov.

2. Feedback for Draft Requirements

• Review the potential requirements/minimum specifications included with this Notice. Then, please provide suggestions to (a) improve clarity of it; (b) to make it more competitive; (c) to indicate whether there anything in it that may inadvertently exclude domestic involvement; and (d) to indicate how the requirements could potentially be revised to improve the ability for domestic (“Made in America”) end products to be considered.

3. Information Regarding Your Company’s Products and Services

• Provide specifications, company name of the original equipment manufacturer, and the country of manufacture for products and services that your company is legally authorized to sell and that may meet NIST’s minimum requirements.
• • Indicate whether, in your opinion, the product(s) meet the definition of (a) commercial product or (b) commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item or COTS item as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2 and, if so, which definition applies ((a) or (b)).
• • Indicate whether, in your opinion, the service(s) meet the definition of commercial service as described at https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-2.

• Standard Commercial Pricing: Provide your company’s standard commercial pricing information for the identified products and services and explain what is included in those standard prices.

• Estimated Price Range: You may provide an estimated price or price range for the requirements, including a brief explanation of how the price estimate was developed.

• Standard Commercial Terms and Conditions: Provide a copy of the standard commercial terms and conditions for the commercial products and commercial services identified in the response to this notice, including nature and duration of standard commercial warranty.

4. Regulatory and Supply Chain Compliance

• Indicate whether your company could comply with FAR Clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022) if this acquisition were to be set aside for small businesses. Provide a brief supporting explanation.

5. Existing Governmentwide Contract Vehicles

• Indicate whether your company has its own GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract or other federal contract vehicles under which NIST could award an order and, if so, provide the contract details (contract number, Contracting Officer name/contact, SOW, terms and conditions, and price lists).

We truly appreciate your company’s willingness to provide the above-mentioned information which NIST will be valuable in helping NIST complete its market research.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future.  All responses to this notice must be submitted via email to Sadaf.Afkhami@nist.gov, no later than 9:00 AM EST on August 10, 2026.

Format: Microsoft Word or PDF
Page Limit: 12 pages maximum
Font: Times New Roman, 11-point
Paper Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
Margins: Minimum 1 inch on all sides

IMPORTANT NOTES

This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay respondents to this notice for information provided in response to this Notice. Following a review of the responses and market research, NIST may publish a solicitation on an authorized site, depending on the chosen acquisition strategy. Responses received after the closing date for this Notice may not be considered.

The Government reserves the right to use information that it receives in response to this Notice as it deems appropriate to establish final requirements or for other legally appropriate purposes.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).