---
title: "Mechanical Cryostat for Characterisation of Advanced Materials Down to 4K"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY"
published: "2022-10-31"
---

# Mechanical Cryostat for Characterisation of Advanced Materials Down to 4K

Buyer: NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e

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## Summary

The National Physical Laboratory has awarded a contract for a 'Mechanical Cryostat for Characterisation of Advanced Materials Down to 4K' to Instron. The procurement process was conducted as a limited procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. The cryogenic mechanical test station will be used for mechanical testing at various temperatures, and the contract value is £318,000. The buying organisation, National Physical Laboratory, located in Teddington, United Kingdom, initiated the tender process with a procurement stage of award, and the contract was signed on 31st October 2022.

This opportunity could be of interest to businesses involved in laboratory, optical, and precision equipment as the tender focuses on a cryogenic mechanical test station. Companies with expertise in providing hydraulic test frames and cryostats suitable for mechanical testing at extreme temperatures would be well-suited to compete. The awarded supplier, Instron, specialises in this field and has been chosen based on its compatibility with existing infrastructure and unique cryostat features, demonstrating a strong track record in supplying specialised equipment for materials testing applications.

## Notice

A cryogenic mechanical test station comprising of a 250 kN hydraulic test frame and a 250 kN load rated cryostat. The cryostat must be suitable for mechanical testing at 4K by immersing test rigs in liquid helium, at 20K in gaseous helium, at 77K in liquid nitrogen and room temperature. The mechanical test frame must have a top mounted hydraulic actuator with sufficient working distance to enable the halves of the cryostat to be separated on specimen removal and loading. Liquid helium and liquid nitrogen dewar feeds are required.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

A 250 kN Servo Hydraulic Fatigue 2 column test system with actuator in crosshead with stroke of +-75mm. The test system should have a 1200 mm Tee slot table @590 mm from the floor. Height should provide at least 2690 mm working distance between table and underside of crosshead. Fitted with telescopic lift cylinders. Actuator displacement measurement accuracy of better than +-0.2% of transducer full travel. Load measurement accuracy to 1/250th of loadcell full scale. Adaptive control system allowing continuous update of PID settings at 1 kHz. Control loop update (10 kHz) on call control axes and continuous synchronous data acquisition at 10 kHz on all sensor channels. Mixed-mode control technology allowing bi-modal and tri-modal control techniques to be used. Mechanical test system fitted with a 250 kN fully Reverse-Cycle-Fatigue-Cryostat consisting of a self-reacting load frame and cryogenic test chamber that mounts to the underside of the test machine's upper crosshead. The cryostat should be suitable for quasi-static and mechanical testing at fixed point temperatures of 295 K, 77 K and 4 K. The cryostat should include hardware necessary to conduct temperature-controlled tests at intermediate test temperatures in the range from 20 K to 300 K. Cryostat and test fixturing must be instrumented with temperature sensors and resistive heating elements. A four channel PID temperature controller should be provided to monitor the specimen and chamber temperature and to supply the heating power.

### Procurement Information

Instron is the only vendor that can provide a servo-hydraulic test system that is fully compatible with the existing mechanical test infrastructure within the Mechanical Test Facility at NPL. This specifically relates to existing Instron hardware (test frames, adaptors, fixtures, fittings and load cells) and software, as well as coverage under existing maintenance and calibration contracts. Unique features of the Materials Reliability cryostat include: (i) the cryostat is thermally and economically efficient for cryogenic tests at 4 K. Its low mass and heat load are key elements responsible for its cryogenic thermal efficiency. (ii) The RCF test cryostat is extremely versatile regarding types of materials and test specimens that can be tested and has common threaded adapters that provide simple adaptation to different specimen styles. (iii) The cryostat is designed with concentric indexing, axial alignment and zero backlash features to meet the demanding requirements of fully-reverse-cycle fatigue test specifications. (iv) The cryostat has a 4-channel commercial cryogenic temperature controller and hardware to provide specimen test temperature control to +- 1K at 20 K in gaseous helium environment (v) The cryogenic chamber is designed to operate with specimen in a positive pressure (up to 0.5 bar) sealed environment. The proven pressure seals enable the efficient use of liquid or gaseous helium with a controlled vent system to enable the capture of spent helium gas. (vi) The system has a feedthrough spool assembly with 6 ports; a. (2) liquid cryogen ports (1 ea. fill and exhaust ports) b. (2) 25 mm quick connect o-ring seal ports c. (2) 38 mm dia clearance feedthroughs ports with KF flange seal-off

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030628-2022 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 31 Oct 2022 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Oct 2022 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £318,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY |
| Locality | TEDDINGTON |
| Post town | Twickenham |
| Postcode | TW11 0LW |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI7 Outer London - West and North West |
| ITL 3 | TLI75 Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames |
| Local authority | Richmond upon Thames |
| Electoral ward | Teddington |
| Westminster constituency | Twickenham |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | INSTRON |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

### Codes

- 38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

## Release History

- 31 Oct 2022 at 10:49 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030628-2022

## Notice URLs

- http://www.npl.co.uk

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-037d8e.json.