Boron-containing plastic composites as neutron shielding material for additive manufacturing processes

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2023-10, Vol.1055, p.168406, Article 168406
• Main Authors: Chetverikov, Yu.O., Bykov, A.A., Krotov, A.V., Mistonov, A.A., Murashev, M.M., Smirnov, I.V., Tarnavich, V.V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ABS; Amorphous boron; Boron nitride; Composites; Neutron shielding; PETG
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2023.168406

A study of samples of shielding materials which exploit plastic as the basis of neutron absorbing composite with 25%–37% weight boron-containing powder has been provided. Composite samples were prepared by fused filament fabrication (FFF). Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) plastics were used as the polymer matrix material, while boron nitride powder and amorphous boron powder were used as boron-containing fillers. According to measurements of the neutron transmission on the monochromatic beam of the IR-8 reactor (main monochromatic neutron beam line - 2.4 Å), the use of boron as a filler in the plastic provides a decrease in the penetration depth of neutrons by 56%–78%: from 3.0 mm for a sample of plastic without filler to 0.65 mm for a sample with amorphous boron powder. Tensile and bending mechanical tests showed that the addition of boron-containing powder leads to development of brittleness of composite materials. The boron-containing samples experienced a 40%–55% of strength decrease and the failure of samples occurred without plastic deformation, while in ABS and PETG samples the plastic deformation takes up a significant portion of the test diagram.