Radiation Shielding Effect of Boron Carbide Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite

Abstract

Boralyn (Al/B4C) composite material is produced chiefly of boron carbide and aluminum. Boron Carbide is an important material for the nuclear industry due to high neutron absorption cross-section. This composite is used as shielding materials to absorb neutrons in the nuclear reactors and control road materials. In this study we investigated Al/B4C composites against gamma radiation. For that purpose, 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, 15 wt.% and 20 wt.% reinforcement content were investigated. Cs-137 gamma radioisotope source which has 662 keV gamma energy photons were used. For each material, linear and mass attenuation coefficients were calculated. Theoretical mass attenuation coefficients were calculated from XCOM computer code. The theoretical results were compared with experimental results. The results were showed that increasing the amount of Boron Carbide compound content of boralyn composite material decrease the linear and mass attenuation coefficient of materials