Patent ID: 6969826

Claim:
A process for repairing a compressor rear frame of a gas turbine engine, the compressor rear frame comprising a cylindrically-shaped inner casing wall and a cylindrically-shaped outer casing wall that substantially circumscribes the inner casing wall, the inner casing wall having a flange adapted to carry a seal member, the process comprising the steps of: removing the flange from the inner casing wall to define an annular face on the inner casing wall, the annular face having a width; fabricating a replacement flange to have an annular face with a width that is greater than the width of the annular face of the inner casing wall; mating the annular faces of the replacement flange and the inner casing wall to define a joint therebetween; depositing a penetration-enhancing flux on adjacent surfaces of the replacement flange and the inner casing wall separated by the joint; performing a gas tungsten arc welding operation by generating an electric arc between an electrode and the joint between the adjacent surfaces of the replacement flange and the inner casing wall, the welding operation forming a root weldment that extends completely through the joint to metallurgically join the replacement flange to the inner casing wall; removing substantially all of the penetration-enhancing flux that remains following the welding operation; and then performing a single-pass gas tungsten arc welding operation to form a second weldment that does not penetrate through the root weldment.