Shielding performance of Al–B4C–W composite materials against gamma-ray, beta and neutron radiations

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the shielding efficacy of Al–B₄C–W hybrid composite materials comprising varying proportions of aluminum, boron carbide and tungsten carbide against different type of radiation. The transmission technique was applied to investigate the attenuation properties of the materials against to gamma, beta and neutron radiation. The linear and mass attenuation coefficients of the samples were determined using energetic gamma rays of 0.059 MeV (Am-241), 0.662 MeV (Cs-137) and 1.25 MeV (Co-60), as well as energetic beta rays with an Emax value of 2.25 MeV. Furthermore, the total macroscopic cross-section was calculated for the materials in the presence of a Pu–Be neutron source. The gamma mass attenuation coefficient values were compared with the theoretical values obtained from the XCOM program code. The half-value thickness was calculated using the linear attenuation coefficient and the total macroscopic cross-section values. The findings indicated that an elevated tungsten carbide concentration in the materials led to an enhancement in the half-value thicknesses for gamma and beta radiation from Am-241, Cs-137 and Co-60. Furthermore, an increase in the concentration of boron carbide led to a corresponding increase in the half-value thicknesses for the Pu–Be neutron source. In this study, it has been observed that the Al-0510 composite material exhibits higher efficiency values against mixed radiation fields than the other samples mentioned in this research. In these fields, the use of the Al-0510 composite in material has the potential both radiation shielding applications to protect personnel and equipment from different type of radiations and to replace multiple shielding materials, thus optimizing spatial efficiency.