A study on radiation shielding potentials of green and red clayey soils in Turkey reinforced with marble dust and waste tire

Abstract

The increasing radiation applications in our daily life makes it essential to protect ourselves from the harms of radiation by using alternative, cheap and natural materials. The present study aimed to analyze the radiation shielding abilities of green and red clayey soils from Oltu/Erzurum in Turkey, reinforced with waste tires and marble dust. For the purpose to investigate the shielding features of the samples, radiation attenuation parameters were determined by using EpiXS software, which can calculate partial or total cross-sections, partial or total mass attenuation coefficients, electron densities, effective atomic numbers, and buildup factors for energy absorption and exposure between 1keV and 1GeV. We compared the obtained mass attenuation coefficients and total atomic cross-section values of the samples with those of a widely used shielding material, ordinary concrete, to make a meaningful evaluation about the shielding potentials of the samples. To validate obtained values by EpiXS, we also calculated the mass attenuation coefficients of the samples by XCOM code, and compatible results were obtained. Among all the studied clayey soil samples, green clay reinforced with marble dust and waste tire has the highest shielding capability. It can also be mentioned that reinforcement with marble dust and waste tire improves the shielding ability of the clayey soils.

Utilization of Waste Marble and Bi2O3-NPs as a Sustainable Replacement for Lead Materials for Radiation Shielding Applications

“…Using marble waste as a partial replacement for some components of the concrete mix has been proven to increase gamma attenuation power, improve some mechanical and physical properties like compressive strength, and decrease the water permeability of concrete [12]. Moreover, marble waste has been added to other materials like clays, bricks, cement pastes, and polymers [11,13,14]. Focusing on polymers in particular, lately, they have become popular to use in inventing upgraded materials to shield against radiation.…”

Study on Radiation Shielding Characteristics of Refractory High Entropy Alloys by EpiXS Code

“…EpiXS was produced for photon attenuation, dosimetry, and shielding, which covers a broad energy range 1 keV-1 GeV. EpiXS has been a code widely preferred by researchers lately [19,[23][24][25][26]. The XCOM software [27] was developed in order to estimate MAC values or photon interaction cross-sections of a single element, compound, or composite mixture in a wide energy region of 1 keV-100 GeV.…”