Process for determining a remaining creep life for a turbine component

A process for determining a remaining useful life for a turbine airfoil that suffers from creep damage in order to reuse a component that still has acceptable remaining life. The process includes the steps of removing the damaged component, scanning the damaged component with an optical scanner such as a white light scanner to produce a 3D solid model of the damaged component, scanning a new or undamaged used component to produce a 3D solid model of the undamaged component, comparing the two 3D solid models to determine the amount of creep damage on the damaged component, determining the length of time the creep damaged component was used and the temperature at which it was exposed, and analyzing the 3D solid model of the creep damaged component to determine how much longer the part can be used before the component will suffer critical damage or the engine will suffer unacceptable performance.