Achieving synergistic neutron-gamma shielding in G5 composite (⁶⁵Al-¹⁵SiC-²⁰TiC): Density-functional performance via...

Recently, technological developments and the increased use of radiation in industry, diagnostics, and treatment have significantly expanded. Hence, it highlights the orientation to neutron-gamma photon shielding mechanisms. In this effort, the search for a suitable neutron-gamma photon shield was undertaken by investigating the S and G series composites designed for Additive Manufacturing (AM) applications. The S and G composite formulas are (90-Y) Al+10SiC + YTiC and (85-Y) Al+15 SiC-YTiC, respectively. An analysis reveals that at a fixed SiC content of 10 wt%, varying the TiC from 0.0 to 20 wt%, leads to an increase in density from 2.846 g cm^-3(S1 sample) to 3.269 g cm^-3 (S5 sample). Similarly, the G series, with a fixed SiC content and varying TiC content, exhibits density fluctuations from 2.862 g cm^-3 (G1 sample) to 3.328 g cm^-3(G5 sample). In addition, neutron attenuation analysis demonstrates that among the two series, G5 achieves the maximum ∑R of 0.0092 cm^-1 (i.e., the best neutron shielding performance), while S1 owns the worst neutron shielding capability. The statistical correlation analysis indicates a strong positive correlation between TiC wt.% and ΣR (r = 0.9323, R² = 0.8691) and confirms that increased TiC content improves the neutron attenuation capability. The neutron shielding efficiency of the S and G series with respect to the best-performing material, G5, has been derived. In addition, G.D.R. versus sample thickness in the S1 and G1 shows that increasing the sample thickness from 1.2 to 3 cm will lessen G.D.R. HVL numerical analysis confirms the superior shielding efficiency of G5 with lower material volume requirements. A comparison study for HVL values via MCNPX modeling and WinXCom software shows good agreement between the two datasets and confirms our research work. In Summary, this work successfully developed a composite capable of providing effective neutron and gamma photon shielding performance simultaneously.