The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is the largest provider of water and the second-largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States. Reclamation’s infrastructure uses all major civil engineering material classes, including steel, concrete, plastics, and composites, to achieve the performance, and service life needed. Typical applications for composite materials include fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) pipelines, tanks, and other specialized infrastructure components, which take advantage of composites’ excellent corrosion resistance, reduced weight, and other helpful materials properties. Evaluation tools and methods for concrete and steel infrastructure are well established; however, FRP composite structures require new and more advanced evaluation techniques.
As existing composite materials in our water infrastructure age, reliable and non-destructive methods to assess the condition of those composites structures in the field are needed. Reclamation, in collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), is sponsoring this challenge with the goal of developing portable tools that use non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods to assess the condition of existing FRP composite structures. Such tools may also be used to confirm the quality of newly-received FRP composite structures, like pipes or gates.
This Imperfection Detection challenge has a total prize purse of $380,000. In addition to the prize money, winners will have access to subject matter experts from both Reclamation and USACE, as well as access to potential commercial partners.
Awards:-
Phase 1 – Ideation
- Submissions must be received by June 24, 2021.
- Up to 5 of the top submissions will advance to Phase 2. Winners will each receive $60,000 (total of $300,000 awarded).
Phase 2 – Prototype development
- Phase 1 winners have approximately 10 months to work according to their proposed project plans, develop their prototypes, demonstrate their prototype’s performance, and submit a report.
- Up to 3 of the top-performing approaches will advance to Phase 3. Winners will each receive $10,000 (total of $30,000 awarded).
Phase 3 – Sponsor evaluations and demonstration event
- Phase 2 winners have approximately 4 weeks to deliver their prototypes to Reclamation for joint Reclamation/USACE evaluations. These evaluations will take about 14 weeks.
- A final event will occur at the end of Phase 3. Teams participating in Phase 3 will present an overview of their approach and results to Reclamation, USACE, and affiliated commercial partners. This is currently planned as an in-person event. It may be held as a virtual event, as circumstances dictate.
- The top-performing prototype will be announced at the final event, and the team which developed the prototype will win $50,000.
Deadline:- 25-06-2021