Mechanical Properties and Gamma-Ray Shielding Performance of 3D-Printed Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone/Tungsten Composites

Abstract

Nuclear energy provides enduring power to space vehicles, but special attention should be paid to radiation shielding during the development and use of nuclear energy systems. In this paper, novel composite materials containing poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) as a substrate and different tungsten contents as a reinforcing agent were developed and tested as shielding for gamma-ray radiation. Shielding test bodies were quickly processed by fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, and their mechanical, shielding properties of composite materials were evaluated. The results revealed shielding materials with excellent mechanical properties which can further be improved by heat treatment. Under 0.45 MPa load, the heat deflection temperature of PEEK/tungsten (metal) composites was significantly lower than that of PEEK/boron carbide (non-metal) composites. The new shielding materials also demonstrated better shielding of low-energy 137Cs than high-energy 60Co. The gamma-ray shielding rates of test pieces shielding materials made of the same thickness changed exponentially with the tungsten content present in the composite materials. More tungsten led to a better shielding effect. At the same tungsten content, the gamma-ray shielding effect showed a proportional relationship with the thickness of the shielding test bodies, in which thicker test bodies induced better shielding effects. In sum, the integration of 3D printing in the mechanical design and manufacturing of shielding bodies is an effective and promising way for quick processing when considering diverse rays and complex environments. Lighter shielding bodies, at lower costs, can be achieved by structural design in limited space to maximize the material utilization rate and reduce waste.

Polymeric composite materials for radiation shielding: a review

“…The resistance of a material to radiation is attributed to many factors such as the type of radiation used, the rate of absorbed dose, radiation exposure (pulsed or continuous), area and size of the material, the surrounding environment (pressure, temperature, electric, or magnetic field) (McMillan 2019 ). But in inorganic materials, the radiation resistance depends on the type of chemical bond and crystal structure of the material (Wozniak et al 2017 ). Due to relatively high processing ability and durability, polymer composite materials are vastly used in various fields of industry.…”

“…The increment in zeolite content promoted the increase in radiation resistance due to polymer interaction with radiation and the formation of reactive (Yildirim and Oral 2018). Gamma-ray shielding performance of 3-dimensional (3D)-printed polyether-ether-ketone/tungsten composites (Wu et al 2020) and poly(vinyl alcohol)-bismuth oxide composites (Muthamma et al 2019) for X-ray and gamma (γ)-ray shielding applications were investigated.…”

The Influence of Titanium Dioxide on Silicate-Based Glasses: An Evaluation of the Mechanical and Radiation Shielding Properties

“…The type of shielding material depends mainly on the activity of the emitted energy. The most widespread and low-cost materials for X-and gamma-ray shielding are glass, heavy bricks, painting materials, and concrete [3]. Concrete is considered one of the best materials for radiation shielding due to its reasonable cost and easy construction.…”

Crack Detection during Laser Metal Deposition by Infrared Monochrome Pyrometer

“…Laser metal deposition (LMD), also known as laser cladding (LC), laser metal forming (LMF), laser engineered net shaping (LENS), and laser free-form fabrication (LFFF), has been widely used in 3D printing and repair of high value-added metal parts [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. LMD is the most cutting-edge technology in additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping (3D printing) systems, and is an important development direction in the field of intelligent manufacturing [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. The LMD technology has significant advantages over traditional forming methods, such as casting [ 10 ].…”