RADIATION SHIELDING PROPERTIES OF BORIDED Fe-Ni ALLOYS.

Abstract

In this study, the radiation shielding properties of borided Fe-Ni binary alloys (Ni-60 wt.% and Ni-80 wt.%) have been investigated. For this purpose, linear attenuation coefficients at photon energy levels of 662 keV, 1173 keV and 1332 keV have been measured. The results showed that this alloy can be considered as an ideal material for radiation shielding against gamma radiation. …………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-In areas where people are likely to encounter ionizing radiation, it is often necessary to provide shielding to reduce exposure to gamma radiation [1]. The studies showed that the degree to which gamma radiation is attenuated is dependent upon the energy of the incident gamma radiation, the atomic number and density of the elements in the shielding material, and the thickness of the shielding [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Carbon steels or stainless steels, as lead (Pb), have been commonly used as materials for thermal and radiation shields [2,3,[7][8][9]. Corresponding to this, it has been found that the measured effective linear attenuation coefficient (µ) of carbon steel gives an average value of 0.340 cm -1 [2]. On the other hand, in recent years, boron has been used as an alternative for radiation shielding, although heavy metals such as Pb have been used for this purpose [4,5,10,11]. In relation to this, it has been shown that the borided AISI 316L and microalloyed stainless steels, especially in the middle energy region, have radiation shielding properties that are similar to those of Pb, the standard shielding material [3,4]. In these studies, it was clearly seen that the radiation shielding properties of steels were improved with a boriding process.Magnetic iron-nickel (Fe-Ni) alloys, generally called permalloys, are of great interest in many industrial applications due to their ductility and versatility as soft magnetic alloys [12]. Although many papers on the magnetic properties of permalloys and the effect of boriding on the microstructure and microhardness profiles of boridedpermalloys have been published [13][14][15], especially, the radiation shielding behaviour has not yet been reported in the literature. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the radiation shielding behaviour of borided Fe-Ni binary alloys (Ni-60 wt.% and Ni-80 wt.%).