Comparison of gamma and neutron shielding competences of Fe–Cu- and brass-added Portland cement pastes: an experimental and Monte Carlo study

• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-020-03648-6
• Publication Date: 2020-05-30T07:02:36Z
• Authors: U. Perişanoğlu; E. Kavaz; H. O. Tekin; S. R. Armoosh; N. Ekinci; M. Oltulu
• Keywords: Brass

In this study, Portland cement paste samples containing (Fe–Cu)x and brassx (where in x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20%) were manufactured and some physical and nuclear shielding properties were determined. Experimental measurements for determining the mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) of the cement samples were accomplished by utilizing 133Ba radioactive source with HPGe detector. In addition, gamma transmission factor and μ/ρ values were simulated with MCNPX codes and the experimental results were checked with MCNPX and theoretical WinXCOM results. The largest μ/ρ values were achieved by 20% Fe–Cu- and brass-added samples varying between 0.344–0.098 and 0.363–0.099 cm2/g for 0.081–0.383 photon energy ranges, respectively. To extensively evaluate the photon shielding competences of the cement samples, other vital parameters such as HVL, MFP, Zeff and Nel derived from μ/ρ values were also calculated. It is seen that the highest Zeffs were obtained for 20% brass- and Fe–Cu-added samples, whereas for MFP and HVL and Nel values, the least values were obtained. Additionally, to estimate the neutron shielding effectiveness of the cement samples, effective removal cross section (∑R) values were obtained. The ∑R values varied between 0.1123–0.1349 and 0.1065–0.1361 cm−1 for Fe–Cu- and brass-doped samples, respectively. The data obtained from the current study showed that adding Fe–Cu and brass improves the nuclear shielding properties of the produced cement samples.