Patent ID: 8083872

Claim:
A method of heat treating a superalloy component comprising the steps of: a) placing the component in a furnace and solution heat treating the component at a temperature below a gamma prime solvus temperature to produce a fine grain structure in the component, b) cooling the component to ambient temperature, c) placing insulation over at least one first predetermined area of the component and leaving at least one second predetermined area of the component without insulation to form an insulated assembly, d) placing the insulated assembly of component and insulation in the furnace at a temperature below the gamma prime solvus temperature, e) maintaining the insulated assembly at the temperature below the gamma prime solvus temperature for a predetermined time to achieve a uniform temperature in the component, f) increasing the temperature in the furnace at a predetermined rate to a temperature above the gamma prime solvus temperature to maintain a fine grain structure substantially in a first region of the component, to produce a coarse grain structure substantially in a second region of the component and to produce a transitional structure in a third region positioned between the first region and the second region of the component, g) removing the insulated assembly from the furnace when the second region of the component has been above the gamma prime solvus temperature for a predetermined time and/or the first region of the component has reached a predetermined temperature and h) cooling the component to ambient temperature.