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AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Tyler Oshiro for the degree of Master of Science in Radiation Health Physics presented on June 14, 2018. Title: Soft Robotics in Radiation Environments: A Prospective Study of an Emerging Automated Technology for Existing Nuclear Applications Abstract approved: Camille Palmer Traditional robots have a long history in nuclear-related work because their integration decreases risk to humans in dangerous environments. Soft robotics is one promising new branch of traditional robotics with proposed applications in industry, medicine, and society. Collaborators from the Robotics mLab at Oregon State University (OSU) are currently working on a proof of concept soft robotic manipulator built from 3-D printed silicone elastomer. It is therefore an opportune time to analyze the potential of this new soft robot and similar models to contribute to nuclear environments. This prospec- tive analysis identifies the components of the soft robotic system and representative radiation environments for robotic tasks, then measures the functional capability of these components in the environments. Samples of polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) were exposed to gamma irradiation then studied for changes to mechanical properties, in- cluding elongation, tensile strength, and compression. Results from these tests showed less than a 25% gamma-induced change in all but the highest exposure environment. In addition, a 7-hour exposure of PDMS to the mixed radiation flux surrounding OSU's TRIGA research reactor (OSTR) resulted in activation of some unexpected impurities, including members of the lanthanide series. Liquid metal sensors being considered for use in soft robotics were also tested by measuring resistance during gamma exposure at 0.1 Gy/hr; no changes were noticeable. Electronic components including drive mech- anisms, cameras, and signal communications were assessed using past literature. A comprehensive assessment of these individual results concludes that soft robotics have functional potential in radiation environments and therefore warrant further study and engineering. c Copyright by Tyler Oshiro June 14, 2018 All Rights Reserved Soft Robotics in Radiation Environments: A Prospective Study of an Emerging Automated Technology for Existing Nuclear Applications by Tyler Oshiro A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Presented June 14, 2018 Commencement June 2018 Master of Science thesis of Tyler Oshiro presented on June 14, 2018. APPROVED: Major Professor, representing Radiation Health Physics Head of the School of Nuclear Science and Engineering Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. Tyler Oshiro, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For their collaboration, thanks to the research team of: Osman Do˘ganYirmibe¸so˘glufor his work on 3-D printed soft robotic manipulators; Taylor Courier and Scott Chow for their work on simulation and controls; Gina Olson for her expertise in soft materials; and Dr. Yi˘gitMeng¨u¸cand Dr. Geoff Hollinger for their guidance. For their help, thanks to: Dr. Leah Minc, for her assistance with the activation analysis of the neutron-irradiated samples and her capacity for radioisotope identifi- cation; Dr. Scott Menn, for his assistance with the radiation safety aspects of all the experiments performed, especially with the GammaCell 220 experiments; Dr. Steven Reese, for his assistance with utilizing the OSTR for neutron irradiations of the PDMS samples; and the undergraduate team of Hallie Mckenzie, Herika Ramos, Jacob Usel- man, and Harrison Liu for their work with the liquid metal measurements. For her guidance, a very special thank you to Dr. Camille Palmer for her initiation of and advice on this project. This project is sponsored by the NNSA's NA-24 Office of Nonproliferation and International Security and is managed by Amanda Rynes and formerly, Sean Morrell. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Background.................................... 1 1.1 Definitions...................................1 1.2 Use and Performance of Traditional Robots in Radiation Environments.3 1.3 Shortcomings of Traditional Robots.....................7 1.4 Soft Robots..................................9 1.5 The Potential of Soft Robotic Applications................. 13 2 Approach ..................................... 18 2.1 Identifying Components........................... 19 2.1.1 PDMS................................ 20 2.1.2 Liquid Metals............................ 22 2.1.3 Camera and Electronic Components................ 23 2.2 Selecting Representative Environments................... 24 3 Literature Review................................. 27 3.1 Effects of Radiation on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)........... 27 3.2 Effects of Radiation on Galinstan-based Liquid Metal........... 32 3.3 Effects of Radiation on Electronic Components............... 35 4 Methods...................................... 37 4.1 PDMS Gamma-Induced Changes...................... 38 4.1.1 Sample Preparation......................... 38 4.1.2 Controlled irradiation of samples.................. 40 4.1.3 Mechanical testing of irradiated samples............. 41 4.1.4 Comparison of experimental results to representative environment 44 4.2 PDMS Mixed Neutron/Gamma Effects................... 44 4.2.1 NIST-based activation estimates.................. 44 4.2.2 Neutron Exposure Tests...................... 45 4.3 Liquid Metal Gamma Effects on Resistance................. 46 5 Results and Discussion.............................. 48 5.1 PDMS Gamma-Induced Changes...................... 48 5.2 Considerations of Environment....................... 54 5.3 PDMS Mixed Neutron/Gamma Effects................... 55 5.4 Liquid Metal Gamma Exposure....................... 58 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) 6 Conclusions and Future Work.......................... 61 6.1 Overview of Study Conclusions....................... 61 6.2 Applying Conclusions............................. 62 6.3 Future Potential and Experimentation................... 65 Bibliography ..................................... 68 LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Example of a typical robotic system with arm-based manipulator (from Poole, 1989).................................2 1.2 Table of Soft Robotic Progress and Limitations.............. 12 2.1 First part of the system design process for robotics engineers to minimize radiation effects on electronic automation by Vandergriff (1990)..... 19 2.2 Monomer of polydimethylsiloxane. Cured polymer consists of repeating chains of the pictured monomer where n=200-1500 for room-temperature vulcanizing products, including those used by OSU robotics [1].... 20 2.3 Mechanical characteristics of concern following exposure to radiation.. 21 2.4 Collected dose rate ranges and/or averages for various environments in the nuclear power industry.......................... 26 3.1 Mechanical effects of radiation on silicone elastomer dimethyl siloxane from CERN 1972 report........................... 31 3.2 Electronic component limitations in radiation environments summarized from Sharp and Decreton (1996)...................... 35 4.1 Tensile test (\dog bone") sample dimensions................ 39 4.2 Compression test disc sample dimensions.................. 40 4.3 Mark 10 tensile testing of irradiated PDMS tensile test shape sample at OSU Robotics Lab.............................. 41 4.4 Example of tensile test sample post-irradiation following mechanical stress testing to break............................ 42 4.5 Mark 10 compression testing of irradiated PDMS disc sample at OSU Robotics Lab................................. 43 4.6 Liquid metal sample used for live resistance testing under gamma irra- diation.................................... 46 5.1 PDMS elongation (Lf /L0) decreases with increasing gamma dose.... 49 5.2 PDMS tensile strength at break for increasing gamma dose....... 50 5.3 PDMS compression with increasing gamma dose............. 51 LIST OF FIGURES (Continued) 5.4 Comparison between CERN technical report and current experiment trends for elongation, tensile strength, and stiffness after radiation dose (given in rads in original literature)..................... 53 5.5 Fractional changes to PDMS mechanical properties compared to repre- sentative gamma environments....................... 54 5.6 All computed (Ce-141 through Na-24) and manually (Au-199 on) identi- fied gamma-emitting radioisotopes from an HPGe spectrum of activated PDMS..................................... 56 5.7 Identified radioisotopes with activities above 0.001 microcuries, not in- cluding Na-24, for comparison of significant but lower activity peaks.. 57 5.8 3-D printed samples of PDMS exposed to 7 hr of neutron flux near the OSTR..................................... 58 5.9 Resistance measurements of a liquid metal sample exposed to various radiation levels................................ 59 Chapter 1: Background The nuclear field presents a unique set of challenges that require both practical and innovative solutions. More importantly, given the nature of radioactive materials, these challenges have existed for years and will continue to persist in the future. While some solutions have been applied and others are being developed, emerging technologies present new approaches to established challenges. Given the long history of robots in the nuclear industry, soft robotics, an emerging technology in automation,