Ceramics International, cilt.50, sa.10, ss.17075-17085, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Ceramic concretes, with their exceptional durability and ability to incorporate a high percentage of heavy metal oxides, are of critical importance for nuclear radiation facilities, offering superior radiation attenuation characteristics essential for long-term safety and protection. This study presents a detailed evaluation of the gamma-ray shielding properties of various concrete composites, including Standard Concrete and Heavy Concretes (HC series), with densities ranging from 1.94 g/cm3 to 4.54 g/cm3. Utilizing computational methods, we analyzed several gamma-ray and neutron shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficients, linear attenuation coefficients, half and tenth value layers, mean free paths, exposure build-up factors, effective atomic number (Zeff), effective electron density (Neff), fast neutron effective removal cross-section (ΣR), and photon transmission factors (TFs). Our research reveals that the shielding efficacy of concrete is intrinsically linked to its density and elemental composition, with higher densities and the incorporation of heavy elements leading to enhanced attenuation capabilities. Among the concretes studied, Limonite with Steel Punch LS-a, which contains 74.53% Fe in its structure, exhibited the lowest transmission factors (TFs) across all tested thicknesses and energy levels (0.662, 1.1732, and 1.3325 MeV), indicating its superior photon attenuation potential. It can be concluded that the concrete samples with a higher Fe (iron) content in their structure demonstrate clear superiority in gamma-ray attenuation properties.