Investigation of radiation shielding by adding Al2O3 and SiO2 into the high-speed steel composites: comparative study

Abstract

In this study, Phy-X/PSD software was utilized for searching the neutron shielding and gamma-ray shielding features of the high-speed steel composites. The effects of the Al2O3 and SiO2 contents on the irradiation properties of the T15 (0.4Si, 0.4Mn, 0.5Mo, 1.5C, 4.5Cr, 4.75Co, 5.0 V, 12.5 W) + (0%–30%) composite material were examined. The properties of the linear attenuation coefficients (LAC), half-value layer (HVL), fast neutron removal cross-sections (FNRC), mean free path (MFP), effective conductivity (C eff ), mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), exposure buildup factors (EBF), tenth-value layer (TVL), effective atomic number (Z eff ) were determined for the energy varying between 0.015 MeV and 15 MeV. The investigation revealed that the MAC and LAC values in the T15 composite material declined with the increase in the SiO2 or Al2O3 contents in the composite. On the other hand, the Geometric Progression (G-P) method was utilized to determine the EBFs under the penetration depth of up to 40 mfp and the same energy range. According to the results of the G-P method, the values of HVL varied from 0.01 to0.034 cm, TVL values varied from 0.01 to 0.112 cm, while FNRC values varied from 6.584 cm−1 to 8.27 cm−1, and C eff values varied from 1.36 × 1011 S m−1 to 3.12 × 1011 S m−1. The results revealed that the T15 high-speed steel composite provided the maximum photon shielding capacity because it showed the lowest HVL value while showing the highest Z eff , and MAC values. The T15 + 20% Al2O3 composite material had the highest FNRC due to its higher density. The present investigation can be considered original in terms of a few aspects. Consequently, these new shielding materials can be chosen as shielding materials against gamma radiation. In addition to contributing to several popular technologies including space technologies and nanotechnology, the present study can also contribute to nuclear technology.