Manufacturing thin-walled castings utilizing adaptive machining

A computer-implemented method of manufacturing a casting, the method comprising:

• establishing desired dimensions of multiple portions of a nominal turbine airfoil casting;
• executing a casting process to produce multiple actual turbine airfoil castings, each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings having respective actual dimensions at multiple portions thereof that exceed or are less than the desired dimensions of the multiple portions of the nominal turbine airfoil casting;
• and
• engaging one or more tools to adaptively machine, without rigidly-programmed toolpaths, each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings to reduce the respective differences between the actual dimensions at the multiple portions of each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings and the desired dimensions of the multiple portions.

A computer-implemented method of manufacturing a casting, the method comprising:

• establishing desired dimensions of multiple portions of a nominal turbine airfoil casting;
• executing casting processes to produce multiple actual turbine airfoil castings, each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings having respective actual dimensions at multiple portions thereof that exceed or are less than the desired dimensions of the multiple portions of the nominal turbine airfoil casting;
• and
• engaging one or more tools to adaptively machine, without rigidly-programmed toolpaths, the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings to reduce the respective differences between the actual dimensions of each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings at the multiple portions and the desired dimensions of the multiple portions,
• wherein the executing comprises:
• determining how the actual dimensions of each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings could differ from the desired dimensions in a manner that is correctable by the one or more tools;
• and
• deliberately executing the casting processes of each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings such that the actual dimensions of each of the multiple actual turbine airfoil castings differ from the desired dimensions in the manner that is correctable by the one or more tools.