Patent ID: 7021899

Claim:
A process for producing a lightened turbomachine blade, comprising the following operations: a) production of a blank of an airfoil; b) cutting of a cavity into one side, called the hollowed side; c) cutting of a socket in the hollowed side, the socket bordering the cavity and having a bearing surface and a lateral surface; d) production of a cover having an external surface with the shape of the hollowed side and an internal surface opposite the external surface, the socket and the cover being dimensioned so that the cover can be inserted into the socket and bear the internal surface against the bearing surface so that the external surface lies in an extension of the hollowed side, a lateral surface of the socket surrounding the cover and positioning the latter above the cavity in order to cover the cavity in the hollowed side; e) insertion of the cover into the socket and welding edges of the cover to the rest of the airfoil on the hollowed side, the welding being carried out by a rotation of a welding tool, having a finger and a shoulder, penetrating from the hollowed side between the cover and the rest of the airfoil until contact of the shoulder with the hollowed side and the cover, the welding tool then being moved along a welding path, and a weld bead penetrates into the airfoil to a depth P at least equal to a thickness EC of the edges of the cover so as to provide continuity of material between the edges of the cover and the rest of the airfoil over a depth at least equal to the thickness EC of the edges of the cover; and f) finishing of the blade.