Influence of Boron Carbide Addition on Performance and Neutron Shielding Ability of Cement Mortar Mix

  • Authors

    • Satish A J
    • Aravind P N
    • Hakesh P V
    • Vignesh V
    • Dr Mini K M
    2018-09-22
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.5.20008
  • Boron Carbide, Compressive Strength, EDS, Masterglenium SKY 8233, Metakaolin, Micro Silica, mortar, Neutron attenuation, removal cross section, SEM.

  • Abstract

    Renewable source of energy is the best form of consumable energy that can be harnessed from the earth’s available resources in a sustainable manner. Nuclear energy obtained from nuclear fission reactions from the nuclear reactors is an example of such kind of energy, but deeply requires caution in the handling of operations. Leakage of fast moving high energy neutrons creates harm to both the environment and mankind and hence should be shielded from all available means. One such effort to shield this high energy radiation is by using boron carbide infused cement mortar that can be used for plastering and other similar applications in the construction of nuclear reactors. The strength and performance based characteristics of such type of mortar are studied and improved by adding super-plasticiser and pozzolanic materials like microsilica and metakaolin. Also durability studies like alkalinity, water absorption etc are done to analyse the lifetime of the design mix. EDS and SEM analysis were also performed extensively to study the microstructure of the casted specimen and to analyse the elemental composition cum distribution (by EDS mapping) for the calculation of the neutron attenuation of the specimen mix. Based on these an optimum combination is arrived at for practical applications that has a desirable strength, performance, durability and neutron shielding property.

     

     

  • References

    1. [1] E. P. Blizard and J. M. Miller, 1958, Radiation Attenuation Characteristics of Structural Concrete, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Contract No. W-7405-eng-26, ORNL-2193.

      [2] Dubrovskii, V.B., Krasnoyarov, V., Kulakovskii, M. YA., Pergamenshchik, B.K., Pinkhasik, M.S., Savitskii, V.I., 1965. Uses of Concretes for high temperature shielding of nuclear reactors, Translated from Atomnaya nergiya, Vol. 19, NO.6, 524-529.

      [3] Kaplan, M.F., 1989. Concrete Radiation Shielding. Longman Scientific & Technical, England.

      [4] Yarar Y, Bayülgen A, 1994. Investigation of neutron shielding efficiency and radioactivity of concrete shields containing colemanite. J. Nucl. Mater. (212-215): 1720-1723

      [5] Desdin, L., Ceballos, C., 2000. Neutron reflection method for the fast estimation of neutron removal cross section in hydrogenous materials. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 243 (3), 835–837

      [6] Briesmeister, J.F., 2000. MCNP—A general Monte Carlo n-particle transport code, version 4C, LA-13079-M, Los Alamos, USA.

      [7] C.Subramanian, A.K.Suri., Development of boron based neutron absorber materials, Met. Mater.Process., 2004, 16, (1), 39-52.

      [8] Facure, A., Silva, A.X., 2007 The use of high-density concretes in radiotherapy treatment room design, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 65, 1023–1028

      [9] Kharita, M.H., Yousef, S., Alnassar, M., 2008. Heat effect on the shielding and strength properties of some local concretes. Progress in Nuclear Energy 50, 22 - 26

      [10] Kharita, M.H., Takeyeddin, M., Alnassar, M., Yousef, S., 2008. Development of special radiation shielding concretes using natural local materials and evaluation of their shielding characteristics. Progress in Nuclear Energy 50, 33-36

      [11] A.M. El-Khayatt, A. El-Sayed Abdo., 2009 A program for the calculation of fast neutron removal cross sections in composite shields, Annals of Nuclear Energy 36 (2009) 832–836

      [12] El-Khayatt A.M., 2010, Calculation of fast neutron removal cross-section for some compounds and materials, Annals of Nuclear Energy 37 218–222

      [13] C.Subramanian, A.K.Suri and T.S.R.Ch.Murthy, 2010, Development of Boron-based materials for nuclear applications, BARC Newsletter, Issue No 313 • Mar. - Apr. 2010.

      [14] Vladislav Domnich., Sara Reynaud., Richard A. Haber., Manish Chhowalla., 2011. Boron Carbide: Structure, Properties, and Stability under Stress,3605–3628

      [15] Yusof Abdullah, Mohd Reusmaazran Yusof, Rusnah Mustaffa, Abdul Aziz Mohamed, Fatin Nabilah Tajul Ariffin and Nurhaslinda Ee Abdullah, 2011., Properties Of Concrete/Boron Carbide As Neutron Shielding Materials, Journal Of Nuclear And Related Technologies, Volume 8, No. 2, December, 2011.

      [16] Kharita, M.H., Yousef, S., Alnassar, M., 2011. Review on the addition of boron compounds to radiation shielding concrete. Progress in Nuclear Energy 53, 207-211

      [17] Fatin Nabilah, Tajul Ariffin, Yusof Abdullah, Roslinda Shamsudin, Roszilah Hamid and Sahrim Haji Ahmad, 2011, Effect of Boron Carbide Addition on the Physical, Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Portland Cement Concrete, Journal of Applied Sciences 11 (22): 3738-3743, 2011; ISSN 1812-5654 / DOI: 10.3923/jas.2011.3738.3743

      [18] Z. Q. Shen, Q. Kang, J. Xu, Z. G. Wang, Y. J. Zeng 2012, "Attenuation Ratios of Cement-Based Materials Containing B4C to 14.8MeV Neutron", Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vols. 193-194, 402-405

      [19] Y. Elmahrough, B.Tellili and C.Souga., 2013 Calculation Of Fast Neutron Removal Cross-Sections For Different Shielding Materials, International Journal of Physics and Research, ISSN 2250-0030, Vol. 3,Issue 2, Jun 2013,7-16.

      [20] Salim Orak, Derya Yilmaz Baysoy, 2013, Neutron Shielding Properties Of Concrete With Boron And Boron Containing Mineral, Academic Platform Journal of Engineering and Science I-I (2013) 15-19.

      [21] Sariyer, D., Küçer, R., Küçer, N., 2015. Neutron Shielding Properties of Concretes Containing Boron Carbide and Ferro – Boron Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 195, 1752 – 1756.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    A J, S., P N, A., P V, H., V, V., & Mini K M, D. (2018). Influence of Boron Carbide Addition on Performance and Neutron Shielding Ability of Cement Mortar Mix. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(4.5), 48-55. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.5.20008

    Received date: 2018-09-21

    Accepted date: 2018-09-21

    Published date: 2018-09-22