Postdoctoral Appointee – Multi-phase Gas Turbine Modeling

The Multiphysics Computation Section at Argonne National Laboratory is seeking to hire a postdoctoral appointee for performing multi-physics and multi-scale CFD simulations of aviation gas turbine engines. The candidate will be a part of the Transportation and Power Systems Division within the Advanced Energy Technologies Directorate at Argonne. The successful candidate’s research will involve synergistic collaborations with a multidisciplinary team involving experimentalists, CFD and AI/ML experts, and computational scientists to enhance the predictive capability and scalability of multi-scale and multi-physics simulation code for propulsion applications.

The candidate will perform multi-scale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations involving two-phase flows and combustion/reaction dynamics, applied to combustors for aerospace propulsion systems. The work will take advantage of both commercial and in-house codes and leverage high-performance computing (HPC).

• Perform high-fidelity nozzle-flow simulations of realistic atomizers to capture liquid jet breakup characteristics.

• Perform high-fidelity simulations of gas turbine combustors with aviation fuels by developing accurate and computationally efficient CFD models to simulate the fuel injection, fuel-air mixing and combustion dynamics for aerospace combustors.

• Develop robust libraries to accurately model non-ideal thermophysical properties of real fluids and multi-component vaporization dynamics applied to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).  

• Work as a part of a multidisciplinary team involving experimentalists, CFD experts, and computational scientists to enable cutting-edge CFD modeling & simulations on the next generation supercomputing architectures.

Position Requirements

• Ph.D. in mechanical/aerospace engineering, applied mathematics, chemical engineering, or a related discipline.

• Experience in modeling and simulation of three-dimensional two-phase and/or multiphase turbulent reacting flow applications using CFD codes (e.g., CONVERGE, Ansys Fluent, OpenFOAM, etc.).

• The ability to demonstrate collaborative skills, including the ability to work well with other divisions, laboratories, and universities.

• Skilled in communication at all levels of the organization.

• The successful candidate is expected to present and publish results in peer reviewed society technical reports and journal articles.

• Ability to model Argonne’s core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity, and teamwork.

• Ability to make our laboratory a safe, welcoming, inclusive, and accessible environment where all can thrive.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of combustion theory and modeling, extensive knowledge of liquid and gaseous fuels for engine applications, good understanding of turbulence, spray, chemical kinetics, reacting flow physics, and turbulent combustion modeling.

• Knowledge of multi-dimensional code development (in C++/C/Fortran) for two-phase/multiphase flow and turbulent combustion applications, and parallel scientific computing.

• Experience in geometry manipulation with computer-aided design software.

• Knowledge of deep machine learning (using TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.) for multi-fidelity modeling, regression tasks, management and analysis of large datasets, and parallel scientific computing.

• Experience in interdisciplinary collaborative research.

Job Family

Postdoctoral Family

Job Profile

Postdoctoral Appointee

Worker Type

Long-Term (Fixed Term)

Time Type

Full time

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