Patent ID: 7198467

Claim:
A method for fabricating a rotor blade, said method comprising: casting a rotor blade including a dovetail, a platform having an outer surface, an inner surface, and a cast-in plenum defined between the outer surface and the inner surface, the cast-in plenum including a first plenum portion, a second plenum portion, a third plenum portion that is coupled in flow communication with the first portion, and a fourth plenum portion that is coupled in flow communication with the second plenum portion; and forming a plurality of openings between the platform inner surface and the platform outer surface to facilitate cooling an exterior surface of the platform; forming a first plurality of openings between the first plenum portion and the third plenum portion such that the first plenum portion is in flow communication with the third plenum portion; and forming a second plurality of openings between the second plenum portion and the fourth plenum portion such that the second plenum portion is in flow communication with the fourth plenum portion.