Applied Radiation and Isotopes 170 (2021) 109605

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Applied Radiation and Isotopes

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/apradiso

Investigation of gamma-ray attenuation coefficients for solid boronized

304L stainless steel
Sule Ocak Araz a, Hasan Gumus b, Salih Ugur Bayca a, Abdullah Aydin c, *
a
Kirikkale University, Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Department of Metallurgy and Material Science, Kirikkale, Turkey
b
Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversity, Science and Arts Faculty, Physics Department, Samsun, Turkey
c
Kirikkale University, Science and Arts Faculty, Physics Department, Kirikkale, Turkey

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, mass attenuation coefficient (μ /ρ) and half value layer (HVL) at Eu-152 and Co-60 energies were
Boronized AISI 304L used in measuring attenuation coefficients of the solid boronized AISI 304L stainless steel at 950 ◦ C for 2, 4, 6 and
Radiation shielding 8 h. The experimental mass attenuation coefficients, μ/ρ, and HVL for these materials were compared to theo­
Mass attenuation coefficient
retical values obtained with WinXCOM. At the same time a new boriding agent (Baybora®-1) also developed for
Half value layer
solid boriding method was used. The effects of boron layer size on radiation attenuation of boronized composites
PACS:
were evaluated in relation with gamma-ray transmission and the results of the experiments were interpreted. It
28.41.Qb
34.50.Bw
could be understood that increased of boron layer in AISI 304L causes of increases in the attenuation coefficient
81.05.Rm values. The measured values agree with the theoretical values. The interaction parameters for selected samples
81.70.Bt have been computed and provided in the extended energy range 10− 3–104 MeV. The shielding properties pre­
pared stainless steel have also been compared with standard concretes as well as with the standard shielding
stainless steel. It is found that the prepared stainless steel is the better shielding substitute to the conventional
concretes as well as other standard shielding stainless steel. So, submicron size boron layer used composite
materials are more convenient than micron size boron used composite materials as radiation shielding materials
for nuclear applications.

1. Introdution rapidly. Conventional shielding material is lead. It is inconvenient to use

lead on large scale due to its high density and cost.
Boronizing is a thermochemical surface treatment in which by A significant number of studies have been carried out on concretes
diffusion of boron atoms into the surface of the material for ferrous and steels containing different materials (Akkurt et al., 2008, 2010,
materials to process temperature of 700–1000 ◦ C. When ferrous mate­ 2011, 2013; Bashter, 1997; El-Sayed Abdo et al., 2002; El-Khayatt,
rials are boronized (Fe2B, FeB) iron boride phases are formed at the 2010; Kharita et al., 2009; Meriç et al., 2006; Mutuk et al., 2016; Waly
material. The boride layer characteristics depend on the physical state of et al., 2016; Yilmaz et al., 2019; Yilmaz et al., 2011). Yilmaz et al. (2019)
the boride source used treatment period, boronizing temperature, and showed that the gamma rays more shielded effectively with boronizing
properties of the boronized material. The boron source may be in solid, process in steel samples. Stainless steels are commonly used in
liquid, or gaseous state. However, boronizing in solid state has a wide biomedical, implants, nuclear reactors, as well as in component for
range of applications because of technical advantages such as ease of chemical industries (Farias et al., 2007; Sen and Sen, 2003; Buyukyildiz
treatment. Structure of boride layer may be smooth or tooth-shaped. The et al., 2017).
matrix material depends on the concentration of alloying elements as Industrial boriding can be applied to most ferrous steels such as
well as the treatment temperature and period (Meriç et al., 2006; Kulka structural steels (AISI 1014, 1045, and 4140) as well as to austenitic
et al., 2017; Topuz et al., 2016). stainless steel (Ozbek and Bindal, 2002). Thus, boronizing has long been
In several fields, such as nuclear and radiation physics, industry, used to improve the surface properties of valves, burner nozzle, etc. In
medicine, environment, energy production, radiation dosimetry, the utility industry as boride layers have a high hardness, oxidation
biology and agriculture, the application of the gamma-rays is increasing resistance, strong indicator of wear resistance and fracture strength

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: aaydin@kku.edu.tr (A. Aydin).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109605
Received 12 August 2020; Received in revised form 3 January 2021; Accepted 19 January 2021
Available online 24 January 2021
0969-8043/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.O. Araz et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 170 (2021) 109605

Table 1
Chemical composition of 304L SS (wt%).
C Ni Cr Mn P S Si Cu Mo N Fe

0.020 7.745 18.532 1.274 0.022 0.070 0.366 0.528 0.552 0.030 balanced

(Mann, 1997; Yan, 2001). (μ)

In boriding studies in the literature, the most widely used solid μ= ×ρ (2)
ρ c
boriding agent is EKABOR powder. In this study, the newly found and
patented Baybora®-1 powder was used as a solid boronizing agent Here x (cm) is the sample thickness (Singh et al., 2015).
(Bayca, 2018). Baybora®-1 boronized steels have similar properties The mass attenuation coefficients μ/ρ (cm2/g) for the materials were
with EKABOR boriding agent in terms of ceramic (metal-boride) layer obtained from Eq. (1) by using the density of corresponding samples:
thickness, hardness, abrasion resistance and compounds formed on the ( )
μ 1 I0
surface (Bican et al., 2020). However, Baybora®-1 is lower than the cost = ln (3)
ρ ρx I
of EKABOR boronizing agent. The values of mass attenuation co­
efficients for solid boronized AISI 304L SS at different heat treatment where ρ (g.cm− 3) is the measured density of the corresponding sample,
periods are determined experimentally at 121.8, 244.7, 344.3, 778.9, and I and I0 are the transmitted and incident photon intensities,
964.1, 1085.9, 1173.2, 1332.5, 1408 keV energies. The gamma-rays respectively.
were obtained from 152Eu and 60Co sources. Theoretical calculations The half-value thickness, x1/2 , obtained from Eq. (1), is defined as the
have been performed in order to obtain the half-value thicknesses, mass thickness for which the intensity falls to I0/2. The total linear attenua­
and linear attenuation coefficients at photon energies 10− 3 –104 MeV for tion coefficient (μ) is used in the calculation of HVL. HVL is the thickness
boronized AISI 304L SS. The experimental mass attenuation coefficients of a shield or an absorber that reduces the radiation level by a factor of 2
and half value layer for these boronized AISI 304L SS materials were that is to half the initial level and is calculated by the following equation
compared with theoretical values obtained by using WinXCOM (Berger,
2010). HVL = x1/2 =
ln 2
=
0.693
(4)
μ μ
2. Theory The measured linear attenuation coefficients (cm− 1) and HVL (in cm)
are compared with the theoretical values.
The mass attenuation coefficients for the different boronizing ma­
terials are determined by using the transmission technique (Akkurt 3. Materials and methods
et al., 2008, 2011). Also theoretical mass attenuation coefficients and
HVL values are determined in the energy range from 1 keV to 10 GeV by 3.1. Experimental procedure
using WinXCOM program (Gerward et al., 2004). The WinXCOM is a
data base which can run on a PC. It uses pre-existing data bases for In this study, gamma-ray spectrometry measurements were con­
photoelectric, coherent, incoherent scattering, and pair production ducted with a detector system including a 10 cm diameter NaI(TI) de­
cross-sections to calculate mass attenuation coefficients at photon en­ tector by ORTEC Inc., connected to a multi-channel pulse height
ergies of 1 keV–1 GeV (Berger et al., 1987). In the XCOM code chemical analyzer are used. The light decay time constant for an NaI(Tl) crystal is
contents are the input and the mass attenuation coefficient is the output. ~0.23 ms. Typical charge-sensitive preamplifiers translate this into an
output voltage pulse with an increase in time of ~0.5 ms. The yield of
the detector is 2% at 0.5 MeV and 1.3% at 2 MeV. MAESTRO-32 MCA
2.1. Attenuation coefficient software is used for spectrum display, analysis and system adjustment
and calibration prior to sample measurement. The sample was placed
In consequence, If a monoenergetic γ-ray or X-ray radiations passes between the 152Eu source and the detector. The measurements have
through a material, its intensity I decreases exponentially with the dis­ been carried out in the range from 244 to 1408 keV. The measured
tance x traveled inside the sample, according to the Beer–Lambert’s law, photon attenuation coefficients μ and HVL were compared with the
calculations obtained by using WinXCOM (Berger et al., 2010).
I = I0 e− μx
(1)
The test samples were used in a cylindrical form with a diameter of
15 mm and a length of 30 mm for boronizing treatment and their masses
where I and I0 are the transmitted and incident photon intensities,
varied from 35 to 37 g. Solid boronizing was carried out at 950 ◦ C for 2,
respectively, and μ (cm− 1) is the linear attenuation coefficient of the
4, 6 and 8 h. Specimens were put in a steel crucible with Baybora®-1
material. A coefficient more accurately characterizing a given material
powder borinizing agents (Bayca, 2018). Sanding and polishing of sur­
is the, density-independent, mass attenuation coefficient μ/ρ (cm2/g).
face processes were utilized by using SiC grinding paper (80–1200
Mathematical rearrangement of Eq. (1) yields the following equation for
mesh) and diamond paste (6-1 μm). The polished samples were etched
the linear attenuation coefficient

Fig. 1. Samples of the boronized 304L SS.

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S.O. Araz et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 170 (2021) 109605

Table 2 Chemical contents of investigation samples are given in Table 1.

Layer thickness of samples made by boriding.
Boronizing time (h) Boron layer thickness (μm) 4. Results and discussion
2 20
4 31 The chemical composition of AISI 304L steel is given in Table 1. The
6 37 composition of this steel is mainly composed of 18.532% Cr, 7.745% Ni,
8 51 1.274% Mn.
The image of non-boronized and boronized samples at 950 ◦ C for
different periods is given in Fig. 1.
When the samples were boronized at 950 ◦ C for 2 and 8 h, boron
layer thickness were obtained of 20 μm and 51 μm respectively.
The effect of boronizing rate on the radiation shielding properties of
a material can be expressed using boronizing processes time. According
to Table 2, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 metal boride coating thickness increases
with the time of boronizing. As a results of X-ray difraction graphs of
boronized AISI 304L SS it was revealed that (Fig. 4) the boride layer had
FeB, Fe2B, CrB, MnB phases due to the alloying elements in the matrix
material (Genel, 2002; Gunen, 2015; Kayalı, 2012; Balusamy, 2013;
Topuz et al., 2016; Omar et al., 2016).
In Fig. 5 the mass attenuation coefficients have been displayed as a
function of boronizing time of 2, 4, 6, 8 for different photon energies. It
can be seen from this figure that the mass attenuation coefficients have
increased with the increasing boronizing time (Fig. 5). This could be due
to the result of the increasing surface thickness of the sample by boro­
nizing. According to this results, the absorption coefficient in the same
energy increases slowly with boride thickness. The effect of tanning on
absorption is due to the addition of thickness and its contribution to
absorption is small.
Fig. 2. Change of boron layer thickness with boronizing time.
The mass attenuation coefficients, μ/ρ, for AISI 316L type steel have
been calculated at photon energies of 1 keV–100 GeV and the results
were compared with the measurement at the photon energies of 244.7,
with solution of 15% HNO3, 15% pure water, 10% H2O2, 15% HCl, 45%
344.3, 778.9, 964, 1085, 1173, 1333 and 1408 keV. This is displayed in
Ethanol. The surface morphologies of layers were examined by Scanning
Fig. 6 where it can be seen that the calculated and the measured results
Electron Microscopy (QUANTA 400F Field Emission SEM).
are in good agreement. It can also be clearly seen from this figure that
The measurements of the mass of samples were made by precision
the mass attenuation coefficients depend on the incoming photon en­
tailor and size measurements with a caliper and the densities were
ergies as the interaction mechanism of photons with the medium is
determined for each material. The content analysis of unboronizing
different for different photon energies. In this study, the boronizing
304L SS was revealed by Optic Emission Metal Analysis Spectrometry.

Fig. 3. The microstructure of boronized AISI 304L SS at 950 ◦ C for a) 2 h b) 8 h.

3
S.O. Araz et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 170 (2021) 109605

Fig. 4. XRD pattern of specimens boronized AISI 304L SS at 950 ◦ C for a) 2 h b) 8 h.

Fig. 5. Change of measuring mass attenuation coefficients according to

different boronizing time.
Fig. 6. Comparison of the theoretical and experimental values of the mass
effect on the radiation shielding properties of steel has been attenuation coefficients for boronizing samples.
investigated.
The effect of boronizing on absorption is more effective at low en­ attenuation coefficient is given in the graphs below.
ergy. Boronized materials are widely used in the fields of chemical in­ The HVL values calculated according to WinXCOM are in agreement
dustry, nuclear power plants, machinery, electronics, so there are so with the experimentally determined HVL values. The results of experi­
many researches on stainless steel materials (Akkurt 2011; Çalık 2009; mental and theoretical mass attenuation coefficients in the boronizing
Atik 2003; Ozbek et al., 2002). In this study the gamma-ray attenuation samples were determined as shown in Fig. 6. The solid line shows the
of boronized AISI 304L SS was investigated. The measured mass calculated results with WinXCOM and the points show experimental

4
S.O. Araz et al. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 170 (2021) 109605

mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ), half value layer (HVL) for the boro­
nizing samples were obtained at 121.8, 244.7, 344.3, 778.9, 964.1,
1085.9, 1173.2, 1332.5, 1408 keV Eu-152 and Co-60 sources energies.
From Fig. 6, the mass attenuation coefficients for the samples are in
good agreement for the high energies with WinXCOM calculations. In
Figs. 7 and 8, the measured and calculated HVL results are displayed. It
can be seen that from these figures both experimental and theoretical
values fit well.
The purpose of this study was to investigate of radiation shielding
property of boronizing and unboronizing samples. Boron coating
thickness increases with the time of boronizing. The absorption coeffi­
cient in the same energy increases slowly with boron thickness. There­
fore boronized materials are more suitable for gamma-ray absorption.
As can be seen from this study, HVL values are lower for boronized
material than unboronized. The results obtained in this study are also
compatible with the results in the literature (Akkurt et al., 2008, 2010;
Fig. 7. The plot of experimental and computational results of HVL values of Yilmaz et al., 2019). Therefore, the radiation shielding properties of the
unboronizing samples. AISI 304L SS stainless steel can be improved by boronizing of these steel.
This result can give a chance to use boronized steel in terms of
gamma-ray radiation shielding purposes instead of standard shielding
materials such as lead or cerroband.

Author statement

Sule Ocak Araz: Writing – original draft, Experiment, Writing – re­

view & editing. Hasan Gumus: Experiment, Software, Data curation,
Validation. Salih Ugur Bayca: Experiment, Data curation. Abdullah
Aydin: Validation, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial

interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

Fig. 8. The plot of experimental and computational results of HVL values of The authors wish to thank to project code number 2018/005 by the
boronizing samples. Scientific Research Project Unit of Kirikkale University for their about
production of the materials.
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the mixture rule which is standard practice assuming that the contri­ References
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