Comparison of gamma and neutron shielding competences of Fe–Cu- and brass-added Portland cement pastes: an experimental and Monte Carlo study

In this study, Portland cement paste samples containing (Fe-Cu)(x) and brass(x) (where in x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20%) were manufactured and some physical and nuclear shielding properties were determined. Experimental measurements for determining the mass attenuation coefficients (mu/rho) of the cement samples were accomplished by utilizing Ba-133 radioactive source with HPGe detector. In addition, gamma transmission factor and mu/rho values were simulated with MCNPX codes and the experimental results were checked with MCNPX and theoretical WinXCOM results. The largest mu/rho values were achieved by 20% Fe-Cu- and brass-added samples varying between 0.344-0.098 and 0.363-0.099 cm(2)/g for 0.081-0.383 photon energy ranges, respectively. To extensively evaluate the photon shielding competences of the cement samples, other vital parameters such as HVL, MFP, Z(eff) and N-el derived from mu/rho values were also calculated. It is seen that the highest Z(eff)s were obtained for 20% brass- and Fe-Cu-added samples, whereas for MFP and HVL and N-el values, the least values were obtained. Additionally, to estimate the neutron shielding effectiveness of the cement samples, effective removal cross section ( n-ary sumation (R)) values were obtained. The n-ary sumation (R) values varied between 0.1123-0.1349 and 0.1065-0.1361 cm(-1) for Fe-Cu- and brass-doped samples, respectively. The data obtained from the current study showed that adding Fe-Cu and brass improves the nuclear shielding properties of the produced cement samples.