Cooling structure and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

A method of forming a cooling feature (28) on a surface (14) of a substrate (12) to protect the substrate from a high temperature environment. The cooling feature is formed by first depositing a layer of a masking material (16) such as epoxy resin on the surface of the substrate. A pattern of voids (18) is then cut into the masking material by a laser engraving process which exposes portions of the substrate surface. A plurality of supports (20) are then formed by electroplating a support material onto the exposed portions of the substrate surface. A layer of material is then electroplated onto the supports and over the masking material to form a skin that interconnects the supports. Finally, the remaining portions of the masking material are removed to form a plurality of cooling channels (26) defined by the supports, skin and substrate surface. An additional layer of material (42) may be deposited onto a top surface (50) of the cooling feature to provide additional thermal and/or mechanical protection.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.