Senior Mechanical Engineer

Solar Turbines•San Diego, CA

1d•$108,834 - $163,252•Onsite

About The Position

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Solar Turbines GCE Mechanical and Electrical Analysis (MEA) Group plans to hire a Senior Mechanical Engineer to support our efforts on expanding Solar gas compressor product capability including hydrogen compression for both partial pressure and full pressure applications, wet CO2 applications, and high discharge temperature applications.

Requirements

PhD or master’s degree in mechanical engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or Material Engineering
PhD with minimum one year or master’s degree with minimum three years of work experience in turbomachinery design and analysis. Internship experience counts.
Knowledge in linear fracture mechanics, hydrogen embrittlement, stress analysis and thermal dynamics.
Broad knowledge of various types of steel and alloys, for example, carbon and low alloy steels, stainless steel (austenitic and martensitic), and Nickel alloys, and their behavior in corrosive environments.
Familiar with various ASTM fracture mechanics test standards.
Skilled in Matlab program and Ansys structure.

Nice To Haves

Familia with various industrial standards: BPVC, API 579, API 617, ASTM and AMS material specs.
Familia with steel and alloy manufacturing processes.
Familia with non-linear fracture mechanics.
Familiar seal technologies.

Responsibilities

Maintain and improve in-house developed fracture mechanics lifing software: fix software glitches and bugs per MEA team member requests. Collect inputs from MEA team members to: enhance front end user interface; standardize output format; improve defect models for welds, cast and wrought parts; create fatigue crack growth laws based on test data; implement new concentration mapping methods, etc.
Maintain and improve work instructions for the in-house fracture mechanics software and provide scheduled and ad hoc training to MEA team members on new and enhanced software functions.
Collect fracture mechanics property requests from MEA team members. Work with Materials & Process Group: to define test types and conditions, select external testing labs, lead communication with and review testing results from external labs to ensure correct execution of test plans.
Conduct structural and lifing analysis on safety critical components in aggressive gas environment.
Work with seal vendors and SMEs from various organizations to create thermal models and predict temperature profiles for the discharge end of various multi-stage compressor products.
Support Gas Compressor SMEs and Gas Compressor CLTF Group to create high discharge temperature test plans, implement loop modifications, and conduct testing in GCB closed loop test facility.