Heavyweight concrete has been widely used for the prevention of leakage and scattering of radioactive rays due to the harmful effects for human-beings (i.e., carcinogenic, etc.). Proper shielding is one of the important precautions in working with these radiations in structures that ϒ-rays production instruments are located. To determine roof and wall thickness of such structures, it is necessary to measure amount of radiation absorbed. In this paper, accurate measurements have been made to determine radiation transmission of all mix designs for 70 and 570 keV on ϒ-rays energies of 137Cs radioactive isotopes by using NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. The mechanical characteristics of heavyweight concrete produced with hematite aggregates such as density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and permeability against water seepage were investigated. It was determined that linear attenuation coefficient (µ, cm-1) increased with hematite concentration. Also results support the use of hematite aggregate as a structural concrete with radiological protection capability.
Keywords: Gama-ray shielding, Heavyweight concrete, Linear attenuation coefficient, Mechanical characteristics
