Patent ID: 8636195

Claim:
A process of fabricating a rotating component having a rotational axis and comprising at least a rim, at least a first disk, and multiple airfoils, the process comprising: separately fabricating a rim member, at least one disk member, and at least one airfoil member to have axes of symmetry coinciding with the rotational axis of the component, the rim member and the disk member having, respectively, at least one integral web portion and a second web portion that together correspond to the first disk of the component; forming pre-weld interface surfaces on the integral and second web portions of, respectively, the rim and disk members at which the rim and disk members can be joined to locate the rim member in a radially outward direction of the disk member and forming pre-weld interface surfaces on the rim and airfoil members at which the rim and airfoil members can be joined to locate the airfoil member in a radially outward direction of the rim member, the pre-weld interface surfaces lying in planes that are not parallel to the rotational axis of the rotating component; and then inertia welding the rim, disk and airfoil members by welding two of the rim, disk and airfoil members together by causing relative axial and rotational movement therebetween and forming a first solid-state weld joint at the pre-weld interface surfaces thereof to thereby form a welded subassembly, and then inertia welding the welded subassembly to the third of the rim, disk and airfoil members by causing relative axial and rotational movement therebetween and forming a second solid-state weld joint at the pre-weld interface surfaces thereof, the inertia welding of the rim, disk and airfoil members resulting in the integral web portion of the rim member and the second web portion of the disk member being joined together to form the first disk of the rotating component.