Effects of colemanite, heavy aggregates and lead fibers on physical mechanics and radiation shielding properties of high-performance radiation shielding concrete

Radiation shielding concrete (RSC) is widely utilized as a construction material in specialized infrastructure of nuclear power plants and medical facilities. In this study, a high-performanceRSC (HPRSC) with excellent mechanical properties and radiation shielding properties was developed based on the modified Andreasen and Andersen model. HRPSC can effectively shield a broad spectrum of radiation rays due to the combination of neutron absorber (colemanite) and gamma scatterers (e.g., heavy aggregates of barite and magnetite, and lead fibers). The experiment results revealed that the compressive strength of HPRSC exceeds 70 MPa due to a scientific skeleton structure design, which contributes the formation of an exceptional interfacial transition zone between the heavy aggregate/lead fiber and the cementitious matrix. The type of heavy aggregates influenced the physical mechanics properties of HPRSC. The compressive strength of magnetite-based HPRSC was higher than that of barite-based counterparts under the same dosage of heavy aggregates. The incorporation of heavy aggregates and lead fibers enhanced the gamma-ray shielding capacity of HPRSC. The mu index of designed HPRSC reached 0.1988 due to the synergistic complementary effects between the cementitious matrix and the radiation shielding additives. HPRSC shows a promising application prospect in high radiation environments.