Synergetic static and radiation shielding characteristics of non-conventional concrete mixtures

Concrete is extensively utilized in various applications related to radiation shielding, including nuclear power facilities, radiation shelters, high-voltage radiotherapy rooms, and for the transportation and storage of radioactive waste. Thus, this study developed eleven different concrete mixtures to evaluate their applicability for such critical applications. The control concrete mixture (NC) was made with typical concrete ingredients. Then, a (GC) specimen was made by fully substituting conventional dolomite with goethite aggregate. Thereafter, various concrete mixtures (GL, GR, and GT) were developed to determine the optimal replacement percentage of silica sand with leucoxene, rutile, and tourmaline powders, at replacement percentages of 10%, 20%, and 30%. The optimized results were drawn based on the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of concrete. The results indicated that the goethite concrete mixture exhibited acceptable compressive strength with negligible reduction relative to that of normal concrete. At the same time, all fine powders' concrete demonstrated a general decrease in compressive strength by up to 41.95%. The incorporation of the materials. Radiation-shielding properties were assessed through experimental and computational analyses. The effective atomic number (Z_eff) and linear attenuation coefficient (µ) were determined using Auto-Zeff and EpiXS software, respectively, across the photon energy range of 10 keV to 10 MeV. Goethite-based concretes, particularly GL30 and GR30, exhibited enhanced γ-ray attenuation due to their higher content of Fe and Ti and elevated densities. Fast neutron and total gamma-ray attenuation were experimentally measured using a Stilbene scintillation detection system. The GL30 and GT30 mixes demonstrated the highest fast neutron removal cross-sections (Σ_R), supported by their superior densities and Fe/Ti contents. Furthermore, tourmaline-based mixes (GT20 and GT30) exhibited the best total γ-ray attenuation, attributed to the boron content in tourmaline, which effectively reduces secondary gamma emissions. Thermal neutron absorption tests, supported by JANIS-4.1 calculations, revealed that GT mixes achieved exceptional macroscopic absorption cross-sections, up to 2923% higher than normal concrete, owing to the ¹⁰B (n,α)⁷Li reaction. Overall, incorporating goethite with leucoxene or tourmaline powders up to 30% yields concretes suitable for both structural and radiation-shielding applications.