Radiation Attenuation Properties of Concrete Blended with Rice Husk Ash, Oyster Shell Powder, and Ferrous Powder

This study investigates the radiation shielding properties of concrete that incorporate rice husk ash (RHA), oyster shell powder (OSP), and ferrous powder (FeP). Four concrete mix samples – one standard concrete (C M25) and three concrete samples with 40% RHA (C-RHA), OSP (C-OSP), and FeP (C-FeP) as fine aggregate replacement – were prepared, following ASTM C31. The EPICS2017 photoatomic library, through the interpolation of the EpiXS software, was used to compute the photon attenuation parameters of the samples. The total atomic cross-section (σ_T) values were ranked in the order as follows: C-FeP > C-OSP > C-M25 > C-RHA. The C-FeP had the greatest MAC values except in the energies range of 662–1332 keV, in which C-OSP exhibited slightly higher values. The HVL of C-FeP was the highest at the entire photon energy considered – with values of 3.07, 4.05, 5.34, and 5.70 cm at 356, 662, 1173, and 1332 keV, respectively. The C-FeP attained the greatest Z_eff values in the entire photon energy range, which owes to its high concentration of high Z elements – Fe and Ca. While the concrete samples' values are close, the C-FeP obtained the lowest EABF and EBF factors at 40 MFP. C-FeP was the best concrete mixture among the three samples, having attained superior values for all radiation shielding parameters considered. The concrete samples from the study show comparable values both for the materials' MACs and HVLs in comparison to other shielding materials that utilized other waste byproducts.