Assessment of mechanical and radiation shielding capacity for a ternary CdO–BaO–B2O3 glass system: A comprehensive experimental, Monte Carlo simulation, and theoretical studies

Abstract

A Glass system consisting of ternary BaO, B2O3, and CdO compounds was fabricated using the melt-quenching method. The fabricated glasses density was measured using the Archimedes method and reduced in the range between 3.148 and 2.955 g/cm3, raising the CdO concentration in the glass network. The elastic moduli and some mechanical properties were calculated for the fabricated glasses based on the Makishima-Mackenzie model. The obtained results showed a diminished in Young, bulk, shear, longitudinal moduli, and the microhardness of the fabricated glass with the replacement of the BaO by CdO compounds. Moreover, the linear attenuation coefficient of the fabricated samples was measured via NaI detector at energies 0.662, 1.173, and 1.332 MeV emitted by the radioactive sources Cs-137and Co-60. The experimental data was confirmed using the XCOM program and Monte Carlo simulation. The highest linear attenuation coefficient is obtained for the fabricated glass without CdO content. It is decreased from 74.49 to 0.086 cm−1 between 0.015 and 15 MeV. Furthermore, the effect of partial replacement of BaO by CdO compounds on the effective removal cross-section for the fast neutrons was evaluated theoretically. Based on this factor, the fabricated glasses' relaxation length and half-value layer were also calculated.