Investigation of radiation attenuation properties of Al-Cu matrix composites reinforced by different amount of B4C particles

Abstract

In recent years, B₄C particle reinforced Al matrix composite materials have been excessively used for gamma and neutron shielding regarding their neutron absorption and lightweight. In this paper, linear and mass attenuation coefficients using 80 keV, 356 keV, 137Cs (662 keV), 60Co (1173 keV,1332 keV) and 2000 keV(high energy) gamma energies for B₄C (5-15 wt%) particle-reinforced Alumix 13 and Alumix 231 (which contains special alloy elements such as Cu and Mg) aluminum matrix composites were theoretically calculated with XCOM platform. Pair production, coherent scattering, photoelectric absorption and incoherent scattering processes besides the total attenuation coefficients for B4C (5-15 wt%) particle-reinforced Alumix 13 and Alumix 231 matrix composite materials were evaluated separately. On the other hand, half-value thickness (HVL) values and one-tenth thickness values (TVL) were also calculated to evaluate the radiation shielding effectiveness of this material excluding coherent scattering values that are frequently used in gamma ray transport theory as well as the total attenuation coefficients. Gamma attenuation curves for Al composite materials against 80 keV, 356 keV, 137Cs (662 keV), 60Co (1173 keV, 1332 keV) and 2000 keV (high energy) gamma energies were theoretically calculated and plotted for B₄C (5-15 wt%) particle-reinforced Alumix 13 and Alumix 231 matrix composite materials. According to the obtained results for this material, radiation attenuation properties and the ability of shielding of materials were investigated. Therefore, this study is original from a variety of aspects, and its results may be used not only in nuclear technology but also in other technologies such as nano and space technology.

Keywords

• Boron carbide (B4C)
• Shielding
• Absorption
• Al composites
• Gamma radiation

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