Experimental and theoretical investigation of gamma absorption coefficients for doped concrete material

It is important to determine the absorption properties of materials used in shielding against radiation. The theoretical calculations on radiation shielding properties of materials; holds big importance, as well as experimental measurements. In this study, the standard concrete, boron carbide and sodium pentaborat doped three types of concrete were studied. The doped concrete was produced by adding 1%, 3% and 5% of Boron carbide and Sodium pentaborate. The SEM, EDX and XRD analysis were conducted for all sample materials. The SEM images of the samples indicated an increase in the granular structure of doped material. The EDX analysis of the doped samples provided information about the atomic percentages. The prepared samples standard concrete, boron carbide doped (1%, 3% and 5%) and sodium pentaborate (1%, 3% and 5%) concrete were radiated with three different gamma energies (662 keV, 1173 keV and 1332 keV) to measure the absorption coefficient and also the FLUKA Monte Carlo code was used to calculate it. The measured gamma absorption coefficient for standard concrete, Sodium pentaborate (1%, 3% and 5%) and boron carbide doped (1%, 3% and 5%) for concrete at 662 keV, 1173 keV and 1332 keV were found to be 0,178414072, 0,132150381 , 0,105139865; 0,178499301, 0,129306497, 0,105620283; 0,176158823, 0,13276186, 0,104715975; 0,177476109, 0,133520604, 0,105323957; 0,179725664, 0,128801899, 0,107644363; 0,174764654, 0,130019496, 0,104636046; 0,174849109, 0,12628841, 0,106843949 per centimeter respectively. The calculated gamma absorption coefficient by using FLUKE Monte Carlo code for standard concrete, Sodium pentaborate (1%, 3% and 5%) and boron carbide doped (1%, 3% and 5%) concrete at 662 keV, 1173 keV, 1332 keV energies were 0,2050, 0,1593, 0,11316; 0,1865, 0,1249, 0,1114; 0,2322, 0,13272, 0,09324; 0,2634, 0,14916, 0,0774; 0,2120, 0,11364, 0,0987; 0,2376, 0,10176, 0,09144; 0,2290, 0,1008, 0,10584 respectively. The measured and calculated gamma absorption coefficients for standard concrete are in good agreement with the data reported in literature. The absorption coefficient for doped concrete with sodium pentaborate (1%, 3% and 5%) and boron carbide (1%, 3% and 5%) have some discrepancies between measured and calculated results for high energy gamma radiation.