Aircraft Fatigue & Damage Tolerance Engineer

Work Location: Waco, TX, 76705
Duration: 12 months contract with potential extension
Citizenship Requirement: US Citizens only

About the role

Aircraft Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Engineer responsible for performing structural fatigue and damage tolerance analysis of aircraft modifications, including design support, and preparation of technical documentation necessary to ensure airworthiness. Determination of critical load paths in primary aircraft structure resulting from applied and induced operational loads, as well as determining the local stress concentrations, internal fastener load distributions, operational usage environments, and design allowable. Development of tailored mission profiles and usage spectra for modified aircraft for use in calculation of service life.

Responsibilities

• Perform structural fatigue and damage tolerance analysis of aircraft modifications.
• Provide design support and prepare technical documentation to ensure airworthiness.
• Determine critical load paths in primary aircraft structure from applied and induced operational loads.
• Calculate local stress concentrations, internal fastener load distributions, operational usage environments, and design allowable.
• Develop tailored mission profiles and usage spectra for modified aircraft.
• Generate free body diagrams, determine reaction forces, and calculate internal load distributions.

Requirements

• BSME, BSAE, or BSCE with a minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience, or MSME, MSAE, or MSCE with a minimum of 9 years of relevant work experience.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and general computer knowledge.
• Ability to travel as necessary.
• Ability to obtain a security clearance.
• Ability to work any shift, weekends, and overtime as required.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Willingness to mentor younger engineers.
• Effective leadership qualities.

Skills

• Experience with predicting crack initiation lives and running standard crack growth programs (e.g., AFGROW, NASGRO).
• Working knowledge of one programming language.
• Exposure to CAD or analysis (FEA) tools, and/or experience in mechanical design or analysis of structures and mechanisms.
• Working knowledge of both military (Mil Standard) and civilian (14 CFRs) certification regulations and generating substantiation data to demonstrate compliance.
• Familiarity with transducer instrumentation, data collection, automation, and software programming for numerical analysis.
• Experience developing the Airworthiness Limitations section of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness for a structural modification.
• Experience with standard Nondestructive Inspection (NDI) methods and corresponding crack growth detectable flaw sizes.

Pay

$90–$125 per hour on W2.

Schedule

9/80A Shift (9/80 Schedule) - 7:30–8:00 AM start time.