The Paton Welding Journal, 2024, №09



2024 №09 (02)

2024 №09 (04)

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The Paton Welding Journal, 2024, #9, 20-28 pages

Neutron shield materials based on boron carbide–tungsten multilayer composites

L. Chkhartishvili^1,2, N. Barbakadze³, O. Tsagareishvili², A. Mikeladze², O. Lekashvili³, K. Kochiashvili³, R. Chedia^2,3

¹Georgian Technical University 77 Merab Kostava Ave., 0160, Tbilisi, Georgia. E-mail: levanchkhartishvili@gtu.ge
²F. Tavadze Metallurgy and Materials Science Institute 8b Elizbar Mindeli Str., 0186, Tbilisi, Georgia
³P. Melikishvili Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry 31a Anna Politkovskaya Str., 0186, Tbilisi, Georgiae

Abstract
Nuclear power industry requires structural materials that effectively absorb neutron radiation. For this purpose, boron and boron-rich compounds and, in particular, boron carbide B4C and its composites are widely used. Both theoretically and experimentally it has been shown that one such promising class of materials is boron carbide compositions with tungsten B4C–W: tungsten phase inclusions containing heavy W atoms provide effective attenuation of the secondary gamma-radiation that accompany the absorption of primary neutrons by the boron 10B isotope atoms. In this work, the composites with multilayer morphologies — W/B4C/W, W/B4C/W2B5, W2B5/B4C/W2B5, etc. — in which boron carbide layers alternate with metallic tungsten and/or tungsten pentaboride ones, are produced and investigated. Surface metallization of boron carbide crystals or grains with tungsten powder, plate or coating is done by SPS (Spark-Plasma Sintering) and also by standard thermal sintering. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) structural-morphological, XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) phase- and EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectrometry) chemical-compositions analysis of the obtained samples establishes that transition layers of W2B5 are formed on the B4C–W interfaces, which ensures component-layers strong bonding.
Keywords: boron carbide, tungsten, layered composite, metallization, thermal sintering, spark-plasma-sintering, radiation shield

Received: 01.08.2024
Received in revised form: 04.09.2024
Accepted: 07.10.2024

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Suggested Citation

L. Chkhartishvili, N. Barbakadze, O. Tsagareishvili, A. Mikeladze, O. Lekashvili, K. Kochiashvili, R. Chedia (2024) Neutron shield materials based on boron carbide–tungsten multilayer composites. The Paton Welding J., 09, 20-28.

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