Investigation of the mechanical properties, morphology and the attenuation behavior of gamma rays for OPC pastes mingled with two different glass wastes

Abstract

The main goal of the current work is to fabricate cheap and eco-friendly materials to protect civilians as well as living creatures from harmful gamma radiation via recycling two diverse glass wastes. Soda lime glass (SLG) and lead rich glass sludge (LRG, toxic) were utilized individually as partial substituents for OPC (ordinary Portland cement) by 5, 10 and 15% (by mass). The results indicated that the increase of SLG content from 0 to 15% led to a slight decrease in the water of standard consistency from 27 to 25% meanwhile, in case of LRG there was a sharp increase from 27 to 34%. Compressive strength, various pore structure aspects and gamma-radiation shielding factors were measured at different hydration ages up to 28 days. It was found that the best blend in terms of mechanical efficacy which by its role can be used as a good shielding material is OPC-10% SLG.In addition, linear attenuation coefficient (µ), half value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP) and transmission fraction (TF) were evaluated at different gamma energies (0.66, 1.17, and 1.33 MeV). XRD and TGA/DTGA, for some selected composites, affirmed the progress of various hydration products as CSHs, CAHs, CASHs, AFm, AFt. SEM/EDX revealed the presence of high compaction for OPC and OPC-SLG while micro-cracks appeared after incorporation of LRG which acted as a retarder for hydrates growth.