Design and preparation of WB_X/Al composites for nuclear radiation protection

As the utilization of nuclear energy continues to expand, there is a growing focus on the development of lightweight and efficient nuclear shielding composites. In this paper, novel WB_X/Al (x = 1, 2, 4) composites were designed based on shielding performance. The effects of reinforcement type, volume fraction, and material thickness on the ⁶⁰Co and ¹³⁷Cs γ-rays, fast and thermal neutron shielding performances were simulated. The results show that WB/Al composites offer better development potential compared to WB₂/Al or WB₄/Al composites. Additionally, a predictive model for the γ-ray shielding effectiveness of WB/Al composites, based on the areal density of tungsten, was proposed. The fabrication process involved mechanical ball milling and spark plasma sintering to fabricate 30 vol% WB/Al composites, with optimization of ball milling time, sintering temperature, and holding time. As a result, a novel nuclear radiation protection composite with uniform composition, a relative density of 97 %, and flexural strength of 527 MPa was acquired.