Effects of the nickel, copper, silver and tin coating on S235JR, 21NiCrMo2, C45 and 42CrMo4 steels for radiation shielding performance

Abstract

In this study, S235JR (1.0037), 21NiCrMo2 (1.6523), C45 (1.0503), 42CrMo4 (1.7225) steels were coated with nickel, copper, silver, and tin. Then, the radiation shielding performances of the uncoated and coated steels were investigated. The steels were firstly designed by the coating processes via electrolytic plating method on behalf of Ni, Cu, Ag and Sn metals. The samples were then irradiated by radioactive sources for transmission of the gamma rays at 81–383 keV photon energies to measure linear and mass attenuation coefficients (LAC-µ, MAC-µ/?) of the pure and coated steels by Ni, Cu, Ag and Sn. Half and tenth value of layers (HVL and TVL) of investigated materials were then calculated at the same studied photon energies. The materials were compared with each other and some shielding concretes on behalf of mean free paths (MFP) at possible. The coated steels were found to be better shielding materials than the concretes due to lower MFP values, and they were also better shielding than reference materials up to 35.31% relative difference in MFP. It was concluded that coating processes improved the shielding properties of the steels.