Fresh and hardened properties of polymer incorporated self compacting concrete mixes for neutron radiation shielding

Abstract

Several works in the past have reported that the hydrogen content in the hydrated concrete plays an important role in shielding the neutron radiation; higher the hydrogen content, better is the neutron radiation shielding. In this study, pulverised high density polyethylene (HDPE) material is used as an additional source of hydrogen within concrete to develop a novel class of Polymer-Incorporated Self-Compacting Concrete (PISCC) mixes for enhanced neutron radiation shielding. The HDPE material was incorporated as a partial replacement to river sand. It is found that the PISCC mixes have satisfactory fresh and hardened properties and enhanced neutron radiation shielding properties. 2017 Elsevier Ltd