Patent ID: 7854122

Claim:
Apparatus for adaptive cooling comprising a first component having at least one aperture extending therethrough, the first component operable at a maximum duty temperature; a sacrificial component having a melting or sublimation point below the maximum duty temperature of the first component and positioned within the at least one aperture; wherein the sacrificial component defines an effective aperture the size of which increases under the condition that the sacrificial component is subjected to a temperature between the melting or sublimation point of the sacrificial component and the maximum duty temperature of the first component; wherein the first component has opposing faces and the effective aperture is arranged to permit a flow of coolant from one of the opposing faces to another of the opposing faces, under the condition that the sacrificial component is subjected to a temperature below the melting or sublimation point of the sacrificial component; wherein the sacrificial component is disposed substantially uniformly within the at least one aperture and extends from one of the opposing faces to another of the opposing faces, and wherein the effective aperture is substantially concentrically disposed within the at least one aperture extending completely through the first component.