The Supply, Install and Commissioning of an Earthquake Actuator

Suppliers can find the complete tender document(s), at no cost, on: https://uwo.bonfirehub.ca.

Procuring Entity:
University of Western Ontario (Western)
Procurement Services
1151 Richmond Street
London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7

Contact:
Scott Roth sroth6@uwo.ca         

Procurement Method:
Open tender whereby all interested Suppliers may submit a Proposal.

Description:
This Request for Proposal (“RFP”) is an invitation by the University of Western Ontario (Western) to prospective Proponents to submit Proposals for The Supply, Install and Commissioning of an Earthquake Actuator as further described in Part 2 – The Deliverables (the “Deliverables”).
***Proponents interested in submitting a proposal must submit the completed Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to the Western Contact to be given access to Bonfire and the Appendix E - Questionnaire, which includes the detailed specifications and deliverables of the Earthquake Shaker System.  The NDA should be submitted in advance of the deadline for questions stated in Section 3.2 - Timetable.

Background Information:
The University of Western Ontario was recently awarded a Canada Foundation for Innovation/Ontario Research Fund project to design, construct and operate a Geotechnical Centrifuge Laboratory. This will be a unique global research facility providing unprecedented capability that includes a large drum centrifuge (Merx Ref Number 343819 or Solicitation number UWORFPSR-1039 for further details) for scaled physical modeling of geotechnical processes and structures. The CFI project has created one of the largest and fastest geotechnical drum centrifuges in the world. The facility is located in a refurbished laboratory with a floor area of 1100 square feet, which includes space for the drum centrifuge and a control room, model preparation, equipment preparation and testing, storage, image analysis and data processing. The drum centrifuge consists of a 360-degree drum channel approximately 0.4 m deep (D) by 6.9 m long (L) and 0.7 m wide (W), with a diameter of 2.2 m (usable volume of 1.32 m3 and maximum payload of 2900 kg). The drum is mounted via a central shaft on a pedestal and powered with a direct drive motor to create horizontal rotation and a hyper-gravity environment up to 200 times gravity. A number of novel devices will also be created to simulate wind and structural loads, earthquake loading and landslides in drum centrifuge models. This will enable the investigation of infrastructure that typically forms parts of large public transportation or energy networks: shallow and deep foundations, pipelines and slopes.

Equipment Summary:
It is proposed to develop an earthquake shaker system for the drum centrifuge facility. The shaker system should ideally be capable of simultaneously shaking centrifuge models in both the horizontal and vertical planes, at up to 100 g (although a single direction would be acceptable). A wide variety of motions should be possible with the shaker, including 1D and 2D acceleration time-histories comprised of periodic, aperiodic, random, or scaled earthquake signals.
It is proposed to develop an earthquake shaker system for the drum centrifuge facility. The earthquake shaker system will be located within the largest of the drum centrifuge channels, which has a 2.2 m radius. The earthquake shaker system should enable of the reproduction of a large range of input motion types, including scaled equivalents of actual earthquake ground motion records. The simulation of geotechnical earthquake problems in fixed beam centrifuges has become more common in recent years and many challenging problems are now being modelled in centrifuge facilities across the world. A number of methods have been employed for generating ground motions in centrifuge models. Most available earthquake shakers can generate both sinusoidal and random base motions over a range of frequencies and amplitudes, using servo controlled electro-hydraulic actuators.  Earthquake motions are often multi-directional and there has been a transition from uni-directional centrifuge earthquake simulators to biaxial systems. Current beam-style 2D earthquake shakers are predominantly horizontal motion systems, since combined horizontal and vertical motion simulation has been found to be more difficult to achieve. A 2D shaker control system must be capable of maintaining in-phase operation and eliminating cross-talk for all of the actuators across the whole frequency range for successful performance. Simulation of earthquakes on a geotechnical centrifuge also requires careful consideration of the type of model container. Rigid containers will impart compression (P) waves to the soil models during shaking. A common solution is the use of laminar model containers, which have laminae separated by smooth, rigid bearings, enabling the boundaries to accommodate the shape taken by the soil model. The proposed shaker system will be the first drum centrifuge mounted system in the world. The unique shape and performance characteristics of the drum present some challenges for design and operation of the system, and these should be described in the supplier’s response to the RFP.
A conceptual report is available upon request and completing the NDA.
Please download the complete RFP and Appendix E - Questionnaire for further details.
Budget:
Not disclosed
Estimated Quantities:
1

Submission Details:
All tender submissions must be uploaded electronically at https://uwo.bonfirehub.ca

Submission Deadline:
February 14, 2022 at 12:00 PM ET

Public Opening:
Not Applicable

Conditions for Participation:
Available within the tender document(s)

Mandatory Submission Requirements:
 

1. Appendix B - Submission Form
2. Appendix C – Rate Bid Form
3. Appendix D – Reference Form
4. Appendix E – Deliverables and Technical Requirements Questionnaire

Complete submission requirements are provided within the tender document(s).


Scored Submission Requirements:
 

1. Solution, Experience and Qualifications
2. Specifications and Deliverables
3. Services and Support
4. Value Added Incentives / Ideas
5. Accessibility

This procurement is covered by Chapter 5 of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).
This procurement is covered by the Canadian-European Union Comprehensive Economic  and Trade Agreement (CETA)

Delivery Date:
2023

Duration of Agreement:
Upon receipt of equipment and satisfaction of obligations as set out in the Agreement.

Additional Options:
Available in the tender document(s)

Negotiation:
At the end of the evaluation process, Western may identify one or more Suppliers with whom it wishes to enter into negotiations, by written notification.  See tender document(s) for further detail.

Prequalification:
Proponents must complete the NDA to submit a proposal

Responses must be submitted in English.

Suppliers should note that information contained within this Tender Notice is subject to change.  Suppliers are encouraged to download the tender document(s) which contain the most current information.
 
If there is a conflict between the tender document(s) and this Tender Notice, the tender document(s) will take precedence.
 

Bidding and Documents are available on http://www.merx.com. Fees may apply; See https://www.merx.com/public/pricing for more information.