Power beam welded cavity-back titanium hollow fan blade

An airfoil comprising:

• an airfoil body;
• a recessed portion of a first depth in a first side of the airfoil body, the recessed portion including:
• a plurality of pockets of a second depth located within the recessed portion;
• and
• ribs of the first depth located between the pockets;
• a cover configured to fit into the recessed portion such that an interior surface of the cover engages the ribs and an exterior surface of the cover is about flush with an exterior surface of the first side of the airfoil body;
• and
• a high energy beam weld configuration extending through the cover and into the ribs and positioned to attach the cover to the ribs wherein the high energy beam weld configuration includes two welds positioned at edges of a rib.

A method of manufacturing an airfoil comprising:

• machining a recessed portion of a first depth into a first side of a titanium airfoil body having a twist from a root of the airfoil to a tip of the airfoil;
• milling pockets of a second depth into the recessed portion in the first side of the titanium forging of the airfoil body;
• placing a cover into the recessed portion of the airfoil body such that the exterior surface of the cover is about flush with a first surface of the first side of the airfoil body;
• and
• high energy beam welding through the cover and into ribs between the pockets in the airfoil body such that the cover attaches and seals to the airfoil body.

An airfoil comprising:

• an airfoil body;
• a recessed portion of a first depth in a first side of the airfoil body, the recessed portion including:
• a plurality of pockets of a second depth located within the recessed portion;
• ribs of the first depth located between the pockets;
• and
• a cover configured to fit into the recessed portion such that an interior surface of the cover engages the ribs and an exterior surface of the cover is about flush with the exterior surface of the first side of the airfoil body;
• a first high energy beam weld configuration extending through the cover and into the ribs and positioned to attach the cover to the ribs;
• and
• a second high energy beam weld configuration extending into the cover and a portion of the airfoil body adjacent the cover, wherein the second high energy beam weld configuration extends into a cavity in the recessed portion that extends around a periphery of the recessed portion.

An airfoil comprising:

• an airfoil body;
• a recessed portion of a first depth in a first side of the airfoil body, the recessed portion including:
• a plurality of pockets of a second depth located within the recessed portion;
• ribs of the first depth located between the pockets;
• and
• ribs of a third depth connected to the ribs of the first depth, the third depth being deeper than the first depth but not as deep as the second depth;
• a cover configured to fit into the recessed portion such that an interior surface of the cover engages the ribs and an exterior surface of the cover is about flush with an exterior surface of the first side of the airfoil body;
• and
• a high energy beam weld configuration extending through the cover and into the ribs and positioned to attach the cover to the ribs.