Patent ID: 11414997

Abstract:
A method is provided for machining an airfoil section (12) of a turbine blade or vane produced by a casting process. The airfoil section (12) has an outer wall (18) delimiting an airfoil interior having one or more internal cooling passages (28). The method involves: receiving design data pertaining to the airfoil section (12), including a nominal outer airfoil form (40N) and nominal wall thickness (TN) data; generating a machining path by determining a target outer airfoil form (40T), the target outer airfoil form (40T) being generated by adapting the nominal outer airfoil form (40N) such that a nominal wall thickness (TN) is maintained at all points on the outer wall around the one or more internal cooling passages (28) in a subsequently machined airfoil section; and machining an outer surface (18a) of the airfoil section (12) produced by the casting process according to the generated machining path, to remove excess material to conform to the generated target outer airfoil form (40T).