Patent ID: 9714577
Date: 2017-07-25
CPC Classifications: B22C,B22D,B22F,B23P,F01D,F05D,Y10T

Claim:
1. A method for manufacturing a gas turbine engine (GTE) rotor having a rotational axis, the method comprising: producing a hub preform in which a plurality of elongated sacrificial cores is embedded; attaching blades to an outer circumference of the hub preform, the blades spaced about the rotational axis of the GTE rotor and circumferentially interspersed with the plurality of elongated sacrificial cores; and removing the plurality of elongated sacrificial cores from the hub preform to yield a plurality of stress distribution tunnels extending in the hub preform; wherein the plurality of elongated sacrificial cores is elongated along the rotational axis of the GTE rotor, and wherein the plurality of elongated sacrificial cores and the plurality of stress distribution tunnels follow curved paths that twist about the rotational axis of the GTE rotor and which converge radially inward when moving in a fore-aft direction.