Investigating the type of material and coating of neutron chopper blades on the amount of thermal neutron absorption

Document Type : Full length research Paper

Authors

1 1Department of Physics, Damghan University. Damghan, Iran

2 Department of Physics, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran

3 Nuclear Science and Technology Research Center, AEOI, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Neutron choppers, which work with rotating blades and remove neutrons with unwanted energy, can allow neutrons with certain energy to pass through. In the design of a neutron velocity selector and the crucial role of these blades in its operation, simulation and experimental studies were performed to investigate the material and type of coating of the blades in relation to thermal neutron absorption. In this study, blades made of cadmium, aluminum, and carbon fiber with different coatings were exposed to thermal neutrons, and the neutron transmission was calculated using the MCNPX code. Based on the simulation results, blades with cadmium coatings and coatings of B4C, LiF, and H3BO3 with specific thicknesses were designed. The thermal neutron absorption of the constructed blades was measured in a thermal neutron flux from an Am-Be source using a BF3 detector. The results show that the cadmium blade without coating (1 mm thick), the aluminum blade (0.5 mm thick), and the carbon fiber blade (0.9 mm thick), both with B4C coatings, have the highest thermal neutron absorption values. The simulation and experimental results show that a B4C coating with a concentration of  is suitable for neutron velocity selector blades.

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References

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Journal of Research on Many-body Systems
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 41
2024 summer
August 2024
Pages 27-36

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History

  • Receive Date: 13 February 2024
  • Revise Date: 04 May 2024
  • Accept Date: 20 May 2024

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