[Beowulf] materials for air shroud?

[Lux, Jim (337C)]

Plastic tape covering the aluminum.. 20 mil "pipe wrap" is useful stuff.  3M VHB double stick foam tape to hold it in place.

But, enough of this feeble lash-up idea:  I think the real solution is to have a second cluster doing a complete finite element model of the instantaneous temperature distribution within the processor in question, driving a set of actuators to form a dynamically optimized shroud.  Or, perhaps the shroud could be made from millimachines implementing very simple control logic, but with an appropriate emergent behavior based on, say, their temperature sensing capability.  The millimachines should, of course, be self replicating.  Perhaps a suitably genetically engineered extremophile could be created?  

A second cluster does the model, a third cluster determines the optimum genetic sequence, a fourth cluster is responsible for iteratively doing the bioengineering to create the organisms, etc.  (or for a less biologically inspired system, the third and fourth clusters are doing some form of adaptive evolving micro manufacturing)

I'd provide more details, but really, that's just engineering, and is obvious to a skilled practitioner. 

 (for those not at CalTech (who is my employer, as well as David's), you can contact their patent counsel for rights to the invention disclosed above, which I'm sure they'll be happy to license to you and reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.<grin>)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert G. Brown [mailto:rgb at phy.duke.edu]
> If you made the shroud out of aluminum, you could basically paint the
> bottom with liquid electrical tape (or better, dip it four or five
> times, drying it in between).  It would basically rubber-coat it.  No
> shorting, no scratching, still moderately fireproof.  But as you wish.