Sukhpal Singh

The gamma ray buildup factors of Bismuth-Ground granulated blast furnace slag (Bi-GGBFS) concrete in the composition of (0.6 cement + x Bi₂O₃+ (0.4-x) GGBFS, x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25) has been calculated by using Geometrical Progression formula in the energy region of 0.015–15 MeV as well as up to a penetration depth of 40 mean free paths, and have been studied as a function of incident photon energy. From the obtained results it is found that the fixed penetration depth values of buildup factor are very large in the medium energy region and in the low and high energy regions are low. The investigation was carried out to explore the advantages of the Bismuth-Ground granulated blast furnace slag (Bi-GGBFS) concrete in different radiation shielding applications.

Five samples of Bismuth-Ground granulated blast furnace slag (Bi-GGBFS) concretes were prepared using composition (0.6 cement + x Bi2O3 + (0.4-x) GGBFS, x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25) by keeping constant water (W) cement (C) ratio. Mass attenuation coefficients (μm) of these prepared samples were calculated using a computer program winXCOM at different gamma ray energies, whereas effective atomic numbers (Zeff) is calculated using mathematical formulas. The radiation shielding properties of Bi-GGBFS concrete has been compared with standard radiation shielding concretes.