Principal Thermal Engineer — CFD & Heat Transfer

Solar Turbines Incorporated; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 121,000 - 181,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) savings plans

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Paid time off

Job summary

Caterpillar Inc. is seeking a Principal Engineer to advance Solar Turbines' gas compressor thermal modeling through advanced simulations and testing.

The role aims to expand operating envelopes for high-discharge and low-suction temperatures by integrating data, validating with CFD, and guiding material choices. Applicants should hold a Master’s in mechanical or aerospace engineering with at least six years in thermal modeling, and be proficient in Ansys, Flownex, and Matlab.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering.
• Six years of direct work experience on thermal modeling and analysis.
• Hands on experience with flow and heat transfer co-simulation and conjugate heat transfer simulation.
• Strong Foundation in Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, and Computational Fluid Dynamics.
• Familiar with compressor thermal test instrumentation including RTD, thermal couples, flow transmitters, flow regulators and control valves.

Responsibilities

• Integrate seal-supplier flow/heat-loss data and Solar closed-loop test data to build and refine flow and heat-transfer co-simulation models.
• Perform analytical calculations and CFD simulations to validate data and develop guidance for extrapolating predictions across seal sizes and conditions.
• Conduct Conjugate Heat Transfer simulations of rapid decompression events to characterize temperature evolution in casings and components.
• Establish temperature limits, flow requirements, and pressure-setting guidelines to support new seal technologies.
• Partner with software vendors to enhance co-simulation tool capabilities and evaluate new tools.
• Collaborate with Rotordynamics, Aerodynamics, and GCB CLTF testing teams to develop test plans and execute testing.

Skills

Thermal modeling

CFD simulations

Conjugate heat transfer

Ansys Mechanical

Flownex

Ansys Fluent

Ansys CFX

Python

RTD instrumentation

Education

Master’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering

Tools

Siemens Star-CCM+

Python

Job description

Caterpillar Inc. is seeking a Principal Engineer to advance Solar Turbines' gas compressor thermal modeling through advanced simulations and testing.

The role aims to expand operating envelopes for high-discharge and low-suction temperatures by integrating data, validating with CFD, and guiding material choices. Applicants should hold a Master’s in mechanical or aerospace engineering with at least six years in thermal modeling, and be proficient in Ansys, Flownex, and Matlab.