The neutron shielding modeling and experimental characteristic in TiB2/Al composites

The neutron shielding performance of particles reinforced composites is dependent on the content of neutron absorbing particles as well as their size and distribution. This article presents an improved method to evaluate the role of particles agglomeration in affecting the shield capability of the composites, which puts particles size distribution, particle agglomeration and cluster size distribution into consideration. As-cast and Friction Stir Processing (FSP) composites were studied and compared to assess the effect of agglomeration on neutron shielding performance. The improved method exhibits a better agreement with shielding experiment result. The intermix of modeling and experiments together reveals the degraded neutron shielding performance in the particles-agglomerated composites.

Automated summary

This study introduces an improved method to evaluate the impact of particle agglomeration on the shielding capability of composite materials, revealing that particle agglomeration can degrade neutron shielding performance. The combination of modeling and experimental results confirms the detrimental effect of particle agglomeration on neutron shielding performance in composites.