Investigation of physical, structural and radiation shielding properties of rocks taken from Hakkâri region

This study investigates the physical, structural and radiation shielding properties of natural granite, clay, natural cement, and quartz obtained from the Hakkâri region. The rocks were ground into powder using an agate mortar, and their structural properties were analyzed using ICP, XRD, and FTIR techniques. Subsequently, these powders were pressed into pellets, and density measurements were conducted via Archimedes principle. Experimental determination of radiation absorption parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC, cm²/g), mean free path (MFP, cm), half-value layer (HVL, cm), and effective atomic number (Zeff) was performed within the energy range of 80.99–383.84 keV. The density of the samples was obtained around 2.65g/cm3 for quartz, 2.01g/cm3 for clay, 2.42g/cm3 for natural cement and 2.76g/cm3 for granite. XRD analysis revealed the presence of calcite and quartz structures within the rocks and indicated that the particle size of the rocks ranged between 26.79 and 29.57 nm. The MFP and HVL rankings were determined as follows MFP_quartz < MFP_cement < MFP_clay < MFP_granite and HVLis HVL_quartz < HVL_cement < HVL_clay < HVL_granite. The effective atomic number ranking was identifie d as Zeff_quartz > Zeff_cement > Zeff_clay > Zeff_granite. Based on the data obtained, quartz was determined to have the highest absorption capacity among the samples, while granite exhibited the lowest absorption capacity.