Patent ID: 7138020

Claim:
A method for determining a heat treatment temperature with minimal superheat and reducing residual stress of a nickel-base superalloy article comprising about 40–70% of gamma prime phase and having a gamma prime solvus temperature, comprising the steps of: a) providing a furnace; b) determining a specific furnace tolerance temperature for the nickel-base superalloy by placing thermocouples embedded within representative metal on different locations of the furnace and taking temperature readings from the thermocouples; c) super-solvus heat treating the superalloy article to only about the gamma prime solvus temperature plus only the furnace tolerance temperature of the superalloy; and d) holding at the super-solvus heat treatment temperature of c) 0 for about 0.25–2 hours, wherein the heat treated superalloy article has reduced residual stress.