Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596

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Construction and Building Materials

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Gamma ray and neutron shielding characteristics of polypropylene

fiber-reinforced heavyweight concrete exposed to high temperatures
_ Demir a, M. Gümüsß a, H.S. Gökçe b,⇑
I.
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Kırıkkale University, 71450 Kırıkkale, Turkey
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Bayburt University, 69010 Bayburt, Turkey

h i g h l i g h t s

Post-fire strength and shielding properties of various-aggregated concretes are presented.

The high temperature caused a significant variation in strength and shielding capability.

The strength and neutron shielding capability can be found better by use of siderite concrete.

Barite concrete resulted in superior on simultaneously shielding gamma rays and neutrons.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The residual properties of shielding structures need to be redefined after exposure to elevated tempera-
Received 15 January 2020 tures due to their probable radiological hazards on biodiversity. In this study, the effect of high temper-
Received in revised form 2 April 2020 atures on mechanical, gamma ray and neutron attenuation characteristics was determined for limestone,
Accepted 15 May 2020
barite and siderite concrete shields reinforced with polypropylene fiber. The increase in temperature up
to 600 °C reduced the ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength values of these shields by 59%
and 62%, respectively. A good linear correlation (R2  0.97) was found between these values. While the
Keywords:
gamma ray linear attenuation coefficients increased by 9% for barite concrete, and reduced by 15% for
Shielding of gamma rays and neutrons
Concrete shields
normal concrete and by 17% for siderite concrete at 600 °C, trivial fluctuations (from 1% to +7%) were
Limestone observed at 300 °C. The neutron attenuation factors of these shields gradually reduced up to 31% with
Barite the increase of temperature. The performance of siderite concrete was found to be slightly better than
Siderite that of barite concrete in terms of strength and neutron shielding characteristics. With the satisfactory
High temperature linear attenuation coefficients at all energy levels of gamma rays, barite concrete seems to be the most
Residual compressive strength suitable concrete type under high temperature risks.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction It is well-known that high temperatures are one of the most

Irrefutable increments in radioactivity-based contamination
requires the development of better alternative shielding materials
in terms of workability, strength, fire resistance, durability etc. for
the modern world [1]. While neutrons are attenuated by consider-
ing chemical composition, the shields are mostly designed by the
use of heavy aggregates to improve the general shielding efficiency
[2,3]. Barite and iron-rich minerals are the most commonly used
ores for the production of these shielding concretes [4].
⇑ Corresponding authors.
_ Demir), suleymangokce@bayburt.edu.tr
E-mail addresses: ildemir@kku.edu.tr (I.
(H.S. Gökçe).
deteriorative effects on concrete structures [5]. The shielding
concrete structures produced with such heavy aggregates may be
exposed to elevated temperatures in their service life. In addition
to the accidental facts, it is known that the rise of temperatures
of concrete shields was caused even 62 years ago due to the atten-
uation activation of gamma rays and neutrons, and the heat flow
from the hot parts of nuclear reactors [6]. There is a linear correla-
tion between the directly proportional increment of heat and irra-
diation dose [7]. The absorption of radiation energy exhibits an
increase in temperature of concrete up to 250 °C [8]. The temper-
ature of thick pre-stressed concrete shields can reach up to 400 °C
in nuclear reactors [9]. The radiogenic heating and other accidental
increase in temperature can substantially affect the physical and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119596
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I.

mechanical properties of concrete [10,11]. The attenuation coeffi- Table 1

cients of concrete for gamma rays and neutrons are reduced with Some chemical and physical characteristics of
cement.
the increase of applied temperature [9,12]. Lo Monte and Gam-
barova [13] have recently reported that there is a need of further Oxides %
researches on the effect of high temperature on heavyweight CaO 68.50
concretes. SiO2 12.48
The loss of strength and mass after exposure to high tempera- Al2O3 3.69
Fe2O3 8.72
tures is a well-known phenomenon in concrete technology due MgO 1.29
to the loss of physically and chemically bounded water from the Na2O 0.35
hydration products of cement, the evaporation of free water from K2O 0.99
concrete pores, and the formation of thermal cracks [14–20]. SO3 3.92
LOI (%) 1.98
The possible calcination of calcareous aggregates and volumetric
Blaine fineness (cm2/g) 3355
instability of quartz-bearing aggregates after a threshold tempera- Specific gravity 3.110
ture contributes to these losses of concrete products [21]. The more
the loss of mass and strength, the more the reduction of density
and hydrogen fraction of concrete. Hereby, the attenuation capabil- Table 2
ity of concrete against gamma rays and neutrons goes down with Physical properties of aggregate sources.
the reduction of density and hydrogen at high temperatures [22].
Aggregate Size (mm) SSD density (g/cm3) Water absorption (%)
Sakr [23] reported that the use of supplementary cementitious
materials such as silica fume and rice husk ash can improve the Fine limestone 0–4 2.640 2.00
Coarse limestone 4–11.2 2.710 0.18
mechanical properties of heavyweight concretes. Moreover, the Fine barite 0–4 4.110 0.94
presence of micro silica can improve the residual mechanical prop- Coarse barite 4–11.2 4.050 1.11
erties of heavyweight concretes after exposure to elevated temper- Coarse siderite 4–11.2 3.610 0.62
atures below 200 °C [24]. However, Aslani et al. [25] recently
reported that high-strength heavyweight concretes containing sil-
ica fume can explode even at 600 °C. Although silica fume and fly 2.2. Mixing details
ash are known to improve bleeding, segregation and mechanical
properties of heavyweight concretes [26,27], the gamma linear Three aggregate combinations were prepared so as to get a bet-
attenuation coefficients can be deteriorated due to the presence ter understanding of the results of this comparison study. The
of these supplementary materials [1]. aggregates were combined as fine and coarse limestone aggregates
The use of fiber materials can be a contemporary attempt to (I), fine and coarse barite aggregates (II), as well as fine barite and
improve the mechanical properties and shielding efficiency of coarse siderite aggregates (III), respectively. The particle size distri-
heavyweight concretes. Gökçe et al. [28] have recently produced butions of these combined aggregates used in the production of
a reactive powder concrete so as to optimize the shielding of both concrete mixtures was almost close to the desired grading values
gamma rays and neutrons in the presence of brass coated steel as seen in Fig. 1.
fibers. However, the fire resistance of such dense-matrix materials The concrete mixtures were named as normal concrete (NC),
is significantly low due to the formation of ‘‘internal autoclaving barite concrete (BC) and siderite concrete (SC) producing from
pressure” causing spalling of concrete composites below 500 °C the type of combined aggregates (I, II and III), respectively. In this
[29–31]. Polypropylene (PP) fiber introduction minimizes the dete- study, the water/cement (w/c) ratio was kept constant at 0.40 so as
rioration of such concrete at elevated temperatures thanks to its to obtain high performance concrete mixtures that are suitable for
melting and creation of additional pores giving way to the reduc- practical applications of shields. Topçu [35] recommends the used
tion of internal vapor pressure when heated up to 170 °C [32]. w/c ratio (0.40) for heavyweight concrete mixture with cement
Thus, the use of PP fibers is recommended to improve the high content higher than 350 kg/m3. Therefore, the cement dosage
temperature resistance of dense-matrix concrete mixtures [33,34]. was determined as 450 kg/m3 in these mixtures. The high fine par-
The effect of high temperatures on physical (ultrasonic pulse ticle fraction in mixtures exhibits a denser matrix and superior
velocity), mechanical (compressive strength) and shielding (for fiber/matrix interface. The mix proportions of NC, BC and SC
gamma rays and neutrons) properties of polypropylene fiber-
reinforced heavyweight concretes produced with various aggregate
(limestone, barite and siderite) was researched in the present study.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials

An ordinary Portland cement (CEM I 42.5 R) obtained from

Basßtasß Cement Inc. (Ankara/Turkey) was used in the present study.
Some chemical and physical properties of the cement are pre-
sented in Table 1. Density and water absorption of the different
used aggregates (limestone, barite and siderite) are given in
Table 2. Limestone, barite and siderite reserves are commonly
found in Turkey. A fibrillated-shaped polypropylene fiber having
19-mm length and 0.056-mm diameter was used for the reinforce-
ment of concrete mixtures. The satisfactory consistency of these
mixtures was achieved by the use of a polycarboxylate ether-
based superplasticizer (CHRYSO Delta 3130). Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of combined aggregate.
 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I. 3

reinforced with polypropylene fiber are presented in Table 3.

Thanks to the design of ingredients in constant volumetric propor-
tion for all types of concrete mixtures, this study allows to the
determination of variations in results only caused by aggregate
type. A constant slump value (4.5 ± 1 cm) was achieved by the
use of 1.3% superplasticizer (by weight of cement) within these
concrete mixtures.

2.3. Methods
Fig. 3. Deterioration of concrete specimens after exposing 900 °C (a) and 1300 °C
In the present study, 100-mm cubic and 300  300  35-mm (b).
plate specimens were prepared and kept in their molds for 24 h
at 90% RH and 20 °C. Then, these specimens were cured in lime
The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and compressive strength
saturated water at 20 °C up to 28 days. Before high temperature
tests were performed on cubic specimens according to ASTM C
treatment, the specimens were dried in oven at 105 ± 5 °C. The heat
597 [36] and EN 12390-3 [37], respectively.
was increased with the rate of 11 °C/min. and decreased with the
The radiation attenuation characteristics of the plate specimens
rate of almost 1.1 °C/min. to minimize the thermal effects on spec-
were tested in Sarayköy Nuclear Research and Training Center of
imens. The specimens were exposed to the targeted temperatures
Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (Ankara/Turkey) for gamma rays
for 3 h. The furnace and heating regime for 300, 600, 900 and
and neutrons. The narrow beam geometry of these radiations
1300 °C are presented in the Fig. 2a and b, respectively. In the
counted by using ORTEC High Purity Germanium Radiation Detec-
study, the average result of three concrete specimens was consid-
tor was considered by using lead collimator setup. The
ered for each temperature level exposed.
300  300  35-mm plate specimens were positioned right in
Although high temperatures reaching up to 1300 °C were
the middle of radiation source and detector in these tests. The
applied to the produced specimens, results can only be gathered
measurement times were elongated to 10,000 s for making the
from the application of 300 and 600 °C due to the disintegration
counting more precise.
of specimens exposed to 900 and 1300 °C as seen in Fig. 3a and
The gamma linear attenuation coefficients of the plate speci-
b, respectively. These broken down specimens were not fit for
mens were determined for 662, 1173 and 1332 keV energy levels
the performing the applied tests in the presented study.
of 60Co and 137Cs radionuclides according to Beer–Lambert’s law
given in Eq. (1). The mean free path, half- and tenth-value layers
Table 3 of the specimens were calculated by using the linear attenuation
Mix proportions, kg/m3. coefficients of gamma rays according to Eqs. (2)–(4) [38]. The
Material Concrete type
half- and tenth-value layers indicate the gamma rays shielding
effectiveness of materials [39].
NC BC SC
Cement 450 450 450 Ix ¼ I0 :el:x ð1Þ
Net water 180 180 180

Mean free path ¼ 1=l

Fine limestone 955 – –
Coarse limestone 791 – –
ð2Þ
Fine barite – 1448 1434
Coarse barite – 1225 – Half - value layer ¼ ln2=l ð3Þ
Coarse siderite – – 1086
Superplasticizer 5.85 5.85 5.85
Polypropylene fiber 3 3 3 Tenth - value layer ¼ ln10=l ð4Þ
Total 2384.85 3311.85 3158.85

Fig. 2. Furnace (a) and heating regime (b).

4 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I.

m: linear attenuation coefficient (1/cm)
I0: the count without absorber
Ix: the count with absorber (x-cm thickness)
x: thickness of specimen (cm)
Neutron attenuation factors were calculated for thermal neu-
trons having 0.025 eV energy level and 3.13  104n.cm2.s1 neu-
tron flow. In this test, neutron activation monitoring procedure of
115 (n, c) 116m1
In - In nuclear neutron-gamma reaction was realized by
using 241Am-Be isotopic neutron source. According to the principle
gamma ray emissions of this activation at 1293.56 keV,
1097.33 keV and 416.86 keV, the total macroscopic cross-section
of thermal neutrons (total neutron attenuation factor) were deter-
mined by using similar exponential equation given in Eq. (1).
regression correlations were established between UPV and com-
pressive strength for all types of concrete mixtures (see Fig. 5).
The correlations demonstrate a good linear relationship
between the UPV and compressive strength values of limestone
concrete (R2: 0.98), barite concrete (R2: 0.97), and siderite concrete
(R2: 0.97). Similar relations between residual UPV and residual
compressive strength were reported by Lin et al. [46] for normal
concrete mixtures. The evaporation of water, degradation of
hydrated cement product and aggregate, and increment in porosity
result in the loss of mechanical properties at high temperature
[47]. The mentioned alterations are followed by the reduction of
UPV [48]. These similar responses were observed in all types of
concrete mixtures produced with limestone, barite and siderite
aggregates at high temperatures in this present study.

3. Results and discussion 3.2. The linear attenuation characteristics

3.1. The UPV and compressive strength The gamma linear attenuation coefficients of concrete speci-
mens are given in Fig. 6a, b and c for 662 keV, 1173 keV and
The UPV and compressive strength results of the concrete spec- 1332 keV energy levels, respectively. Fig. 6d also presents the neu-
imens are presented in Fig. 4a and b, respectively. In the present tron attenuation factors. It was found that the heat treatment up to
study, high-strength concrete mixtures (58–64 MPa) were 300 °C had a positive effect on these linear attenuation coefficients
achieved with the use of limestone, barite and siderite aggregates. of concrete specimens for gamma rays. Especially, the linear atten-
In addition to radiation shielding capability, enough compressive uation coefficients of barite concretes increased up to 7.5% com-
strength is a desired characteristic in concrete shields [40]. The pared to the specimens without heat treatment. While barite
strength values in the present study can be classified as satisfac-
tory for shielding structures according to Mehta and Monteiro
[41]. It is well-known that the design of concrete in higher density
and compressive strength can results in superior shielding charac-
teristics [42–44]. On the other hand, the difference observed in
UPV of normal and barite concrete (reducing from 4.021 km/sec
to 3.532 km/sec) was also reported similarly in a study performed
by Lo Monte and Gambarova [13].
The increase in temperature from 20 to 600 °C caused a decre-
ment of UPV and compressive strength values of these concretes
up to 59% and 62% when compared to the values obtained at
ambient temperature, respectively. 600 °C heat treatment caused
a significant deterioration of the specimens, while these UPV and
compressive strength losses (up to 22% and 16%, respectively) were
not remarkable at 300 °C. Similarly, Yang et al. [45] reported that
the losses in compressive strength and UPV significantly increased
when the temperature increased from 400 to 600 °C. Linear Fig. 5. Relationship between ultrasonic plus velocity and compressive strength.

Fig. 4. Residual ultrasonic pulse velocity (a) and compressive strength (b) after heat treatment on concrete shields.
 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I.
concrete keeps similar gains (up to 8.7%) at further temperature
(600 °C), these coefficients reduced up to 17% for normal and side-
rite concretes. However, the thermal neutron attenuation factors of
these concretes were gradually decreased with increasing temper-
ature of heat treatment. With 14% loss on the neutron attenuation
factors, the high temperature resistance of barite concrete was
found to be better than that of other types of concrete at 300 °C,
although the exact opposite result with 31% loss was recorded at
600 °C heat treatment.
Exposure to high temperatures is one of the most important
deterioration factors that reduce the durability, density and shield-
ing efficiency of normal and heavyweight concretes [5,9,12]. The
increase of temperature up to 300 °C desiccates capillary water,
while there is no significant change on aggregate and mortar phase
of concrete [49]. Further temperatures result in the loss of chemi-
cally bound water of hydration products (CH and C-S-H) in addition
to the increase in mass loss and porosity [16,17,50]. That is, the loss
in weight of cementitious systems is caused by the loss of physi-
cally and chemically bound water of the matrix [18]. As a result
of the aforementioned remarks, it could be claimed that the weight
loss of concrete is strictly proportional to the loss of H fraction. The
H element, a moderator material, plays a role on slowing down and
absorbing neutrons [51]. The neutron attenuation factor is
Fig. 6. Variations on linear attenuation coefficients for 662 keV (a), 1173 keV (b) and 1332 keV (c) energy levels of gamma rays, and on thermal neutron attenuation factors
(d) after heat treatment.
5
decreased by the reduction of moderator materials in the matrix
[28,52]. On the other hand, the loss of gamma linear attenuation
coefficients was taken place at lower than that of neutron attenua-
tion coefficients at high temperature. Even a slight recovery of the
gamma linear attenuation coefficients was obtained to some extent
at medium elevated temperature (300 °C). After further increase of
the temperature, these coefficients of normal and siderite concretes
reduced, possibly because of the macro crack propagation [19], the
drastic increase of pore volume and the average pore size above
300 °C [53,54]. Lee et al. [55] reported that the increment in crack
width of concrete eases the penetration of these rays and reduces
the shielding efficiency. Due to the high penetration ability, the
gamma rays, a type of electromagnetic waves, are only attenuated
by dense bulks [41,56]. Hereby, the loss in weight (proportionally
to loss in density) and crack propagations at high temperatures
are the principle reasons of the reduction of the gamma linear
attenuation coefficients.
3.3. Transmission of gamma rays
The thickness of concrete shields was constituted according to
the transmission of gamma rays in logarithmic scale in Fig. 7a, b
and c for 662 keV, 1173 keV and 1332 keV energy levels,
6 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I.

1
NC-20 °C
NC-300 °C
NC-600 °C
BC-20 °C
BC-300 °C
0.1 BC-600 °C
Transmission
SC-20 °C
SC-300 °C
SC-600 °C

0.01

0.001
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
a Shield (cm)

1
Transmission

0.1

0.01

0.001
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
b Shield (cm)

0.1
Trnasmission

0.01

0.001
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
c Shield (cm)

Fig. 7. Transmission thickness for 662 keV (a), 1173 keV (b) and 1332 keV (c) energy levels of gamma rays.

respectively. It seems that the increment in energy level of gamma
rays causes significant increase in the shield thickness. In other
words, the transmission capability of gamma rays reduces with
increase energy levels at a constant shield thickness. The shielding
efficiency can be ranked from best to worst as barite, siderite and
normal concrete materials, respectively, when exposed to high
temperatures.
The mean free path, half-value layer and tenth-value layer of
concrete mixtures were presented in Table 4. It is observed from
relative variations that the required thicknesses of concrete mate-
rials exposed to moderate elevated temperature (300 °C) could be
reduced up to 6.9%. The attenuation thickness of barite concrete
also keeps its reduction (reaches up to 8%) after exposure to high
temperature at 600 °C. However, with the increase of temperature
up to 600 °C and energy level of gamma rays, the normal and side-
rite concrete shields have the requirement to be designed with as
bigger thickness as 17.3% and 20.4%, respectively.
The lower half- and tenth-value layers known as the indication
of gamma shielding effectiveness allow for the production of
shields with lesser thickness, and thus lesser volume [39,57,58].
The post-fire normal and siderite concrete shields will endanger
living being or working people nearby such ionization radiation
sources due to their reduced shielding efficiency. Although there
is no clear consensus on health damage of low-level radiation
[59], exposure time will cause higher risks with increased doses
of ionization radiation [60].
3.4. Evaluation of concrete quality
In the present study, the total quality of all concrete mixtures
exposed to high temperatures were assessed in Table 5. While
the siderite concrete shields present the best option regarding
strength and shielding of neutrons, barite concrete shields pre-
sented neutral results. At normal and elevated temperatures, the
attenuation of gamma rays was achieved by barite concrete
shields. Hereby, its general quality was found to be better than that
of normal and siderite concrete shields in terms of mechanical and
shielding characteristics in the presence of high temperature risks.
An increment in radiological hazards has been recently noted by
researchers in building materials due to the increased natural
radionuclide concentrations [61–64]. Barite aggregate concrete
can be also recommended for lowering the natural radioactivity
 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I. 7

Table 4
Attenuation thickness of concrete shields.

Energy (keV) Temperature °C Normal concrete Barite concrete Siderite concrete

MFP HVL TVL Rel. MFP HVL TVL Rel. MFP HVL TVL Rel.
662 20 5.62 3.89 12.94 100 4.15 2.88 9.55 100 4.57 3.17 10.51 100
300 5.46 3.79 12.58 97.3 3.89 2.70 8.96 93.8 4.35 3.01 10.01 95.2
600 6.29 4.36 14.48 112.0 3.98 2.76 9.17 96.0 5.10 3.54 11.75 111.7
1173 20 7.46 5.17 17.18 100 5.68 3.94 13.08 100 5.81 4.03 13.39 100
300 7.30 5.06 16.81 97.8 5.41 3.75 12.45 95.1 5.85 4.05 13.47 100.6
600 8.62 5.98 19.85 115.5 5.52 3.83 12.72 97.2 6.85 4.75 15.77 117.8
1332 20 7.75 5.37 17.85 100 6.21 4.31 14.30 100 6.06 4.20 13.96 100
300 7.46 5.17 17.18 96.3 5.78 4.01 13.31 93.1 6.06 4.20 13.96 100.0
600 9.09 6.30 20.93 117.3 5.71 3.96 13.16 92.0 7.30 5.06 16.81 120.4

* MFP: mean free path (cm), HVL: half-value layer (cm), TVL: tenth-value layer (cm), Rel.: relative value (%).

Table 5
Evaluation of concrete quality.

Performance Temperature (°C) Concrete type

Normal Barite Siderite
Mechanical performance 20 0  +
300 +  +
600 0 0 0
Quality 0  +
Shielding of gamma rays At low energy (662 keV) 20  + 0
300  + 0
600  + 0
Quality  + 0
At medium energy (1173 keV) 20  + +
300  + 0
600  + 0
Quality  + 0
At high energy (1332 keV) 20  0 +
300  + 0
600  + 0
Quality  + 0
Shielding of neutrons 20  0 +
300  + 0
600 0 0 +
Quality  0 +
General quality of concrete shields Poor Good Medium

* The signs of ‘‘”, ‘‘0” and ‘‘+” are placed when the results are evaluated as poor, medium and good, respectively.

risks of mixing materials (especially from cement) in shielding
concretes [65]. Moreover, Lo Monte and Gambarova [13] docu-
mented that barite concrete shields have similar and better aggre-
gate quality than that of ordinary concrete at high temperatures
when various mechanical (compressive strength, tensile strength
and modulus of elasticity) and physical characteristics (mass loss,
thermal diffusivity and porosity) are evaluated.
4. Concluding remarks
The effect of high temperatures on concrete structures are one
of the most popular research topics in civil engineering recently.
The residual properties of these structures need to be redefined
after exposure to elevated temperatures in order to control their
reliability. Especially, concrete quality of radiation shielding struc-
tures has a primary significance due to its probable radiological
risks on the environment and humans. In the present study, the
following conclusions can be drawn based on the ultrasonic pulse
velocity, compressive strength, gamma ray and neutron shielding
results of the normal (limestone), barite and siderite concrete
shields reinforced with polypropylene fibers:
- The ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength values
of concrete shields remarkably reduced with increase of tem-
perature. The strength losses reached up to 62% at 600 °C, while
they were found to be relatively lower (up to 16%) at 300 °C. The
ultrasonic pulse velocity method is a feasible test method for
the estimation of compressive strength of concrete shields after
exposure to high temperatures due to the good regression cor-
relations (R2  0.97) between of them.
- The high temperature improved the gamma ray linear attenua-
tion coefficients of barite concrete by 7% and 9% at 300 °C and
600 °C, respectively. These coefficients of normal and siderite
concretes were reduced up to 17% at 600 °C, while there were
slight fluctuations at 300 °C.
- The gamma ray attenuation thicknesses of normal and siderite
concrete should be designed as bigger as by 17% and 20%,
respectively, if there is a possibility on heat evolution to reach
up to 600 °C. On the other hand, the barite concrete shields
can be constructed more reliably thanks to the increase of
shielding capacity after exposure to high temperatures.
- The neutron attenuation factors of normal, barite and siderite
concretes were reduced by 21%, 14% and 26%, respectively, at
300 °C. This loss reached up to 31% at 600 °C in barite concrete,
while there were slight increments of the losses in normal and
siderite concrete.
- In terms of compressive strength and neutron shielding, siderite
concrete was found to be slightly more satisfactory. The atten-
uation of gamma rays was sufficiently achieved by barite con-
crete at all energy levels.
8 _ Demir et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119596
I.
- The authors of the present study recommend the use of barite
concrete for simultaneously achieving better residual compres-
sive strength, gamma ray and neutron shielding capability
although siderite concrete presents more satisfactory compres-
sive strength and neutron shielding performance after exposure
to high temperatures.
- According to the authors, the use of binders having enough resis-
tance to high temperature such as calcium aluminate cements and
geopolymers can be alternative topics for the production of supe-
rior polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete shields especially
exposed to higher temperatures than 600 °C in future.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
_ Demir: Writing - review & editing, Supervision. M. Gümüsß:
I.
Resources, Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation. H.S.
Gökçe: Writing - review & editing, Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The present study was financially supported with a project
(Project No: 117M880) by the Scientific and Technological
_
Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK).
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