Tri-property rotor assembly of a turbine engine, and method for its preparation

Abstract

A rotor assembly of an axial flow turbine engine has a bladed ring including a ring, and a plurality of turbine blades affixed to the ring and extending radially outwardly from the ring. There is a solid state weld joint between a central disk hub and the ring of the bladed ring. In one approach, the rotor assembly is prepared by bonding the plurality of turbine blades to the coarse-grain ring so that the turbine blades extend outwardly from the ring, providing the fine-grain central disk hub, and solid-state inertia welding the central disk hub and the ring of the bladed ring at a solid state weld joint.

1 - 12 . (canceled)  
   
   
       13 . A method for preparing a rotor assembly of an axial flow turbine engine, comprising the steps of 
 providing a bladed ring, wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 bonding a plurality of turbine blades to a ring so that the turbine blades extend outwardly from the ring;  
   providing a central disk hub; and    solid-state inertia welding the central disk hub and the ring of the bladed ring at a solid state weld joint.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of bonding includes the step of 
 diffusion bonding the plurality of turbine blades to the ring.    
   
   
       15 - 16 . (canceled)  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of solid-state inertia welding includes the step of 
 rotating at least one of the central disk hub and the bladed ring about a rotational axis with the central disk hub and the bladed ring separated from each other, and    moving the central disk hub and the bladed ring into contact in a direction parallel to the rotational axis, wherein the contact occurs at the solid-state weld joint.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of bonding is completed prior to a commencement of the step of solid-state inertia welding.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 producing the ring having a coarser grain structure than the central disk hub resulting from the step of providing the central disk hub.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 providing the ring having an inner surface that does not lie perpendicular to a radial direction of the rotor assembly, and wherein    the step of providing the central disk hub includes the step of    providing the central disk hub having an outer surface that does not lie perpendicular to the radial direction, and wherein the inner surface and the outer surface have substantially the same angle relative to the radial direction and are conformably shaped.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the steps of 
 providing the ring made of a first nickel-base superalloy, and    providing the turbine blades made of a second nickel-base superalloy.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the steps of 
 providing the ring made of a first nickel-base superalloy, and    providing the turbine blades made of a second nickel-base superalloy, and wherein the step of providing the central disk hub includes the step of    providing the central disk hub made of the first nickel-base superalloy.    
   
   
       23 . A method for preparing a rotor assembly of an axial flow turbine engine, comprising the steps of 
 providing a bladed ring, wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 bonding a plurality of turbine blades to a ring so that the turbine blades extend outwardly from the ring;  
   providing a central disk hub; and    producing a solid-state weld joint between the central disk hub and the ring of the bladed ring.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of bonding includes the step of 
 diffusion bonding the plurality of turbine blades to the ring.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of producing the solid-state weld joint includes the step of 
 rotating at least one of the central disk hub and the bladed ring about a rotational axis with the central disk hub and the bladed ring separated from each other, and    moving the central disk hub and the bladed ring into contact in a direction parallel to the rotational axis, wherein the contact occurs at the solid-state weld joint.    
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of bonding is completed prior to a commencement of the step of producing the solid-state weld joint.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 producing the ring having a coarser grain structure than the central disk hub resulting from the step of providing the central disk hub.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 providing the ring having an inner surface that does not lie perpendicular to a radial direction of the rotor assembly, and wherein the step of providing the central disk hub includes the step of    providing the central disk hub having an outer surface that does not lie perpendicular to the radial direction, and wherein the inner surface and the outer surface have substantially the same angle relative to the radial direction and are conformably shaped.    
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of producing the solid-state weld joint includes the step of 
 producing the rotor assembly comprising 
 the ring having a ring composition and a ring grain size, and  
 the central disk hub having a hub composition that is the same as the ring composition and a hub grain size that is smaller than the ring grain size.  
   
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the steps of 
 providing the ring made of a first nickel-base superalloy, and    providing the turbine blades made of a second nickel-base superalloy.    
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the steps of 
 providing the ring made of a first nickel-base superalloy, and    providing the turbine blades made of a second nickel-base superalloy, and wherein the step of providing the central disk hub includes the step of    providing the central disk hub made of the first nickel-base superalloy.    
   
   
       32 . A method for preparing a rotor assembly of an axial flow turbine engine, comprising the steps of 
 providing a bladed ring, wherein the step of providing the bladed ring includes the step of 
 bonding a plurality of turbine blades to a ring so that the turbine blades extend outwardly from the ring;  
   providing a central disk hub; and    producing a weld joint between the central disk hub and the ring of the bladed ring, wherein the turbine blades, the ring, and the central disk hub are not melted during the steps of bonding and producing.