Determination of the effect of lead mine waste aggregate on some concrete properties and radiation shielding

The aim of this study is to determine the radiation absorption capacity of concretes produced from lead mine waste which cannot be processed economically as the lead content is low in the mines they are extracted. Lead mine waste (tallow) were exchanged at ratios of 25%, 50% and 75% respectively with barite and limestone aggregates and samples were prepared at C16, C25 and C35 classes. The compressive strength and the unit weight of the prepared samples were determined. The linear absorption coefficients of prepared concrete samples at 662 keV of energy were determined. In addition the relationship between the radiation absorption capacity and the compressive strength–unit weight was investigated. The experiments demonstrated that best absorption was in concrete samples with 100% barite content (100B). On the other hand in the concrete samples prepared from the mixture of limestone and lead mine waste aggregates, it was observed that radiation absorption capacity decreased due to decreasing amount of barite. In concrete samples prepared from the mixture of lead mine waste and limestone aggregates, it was observed that radiation absorption capacity increased due to increasing amount of mine waste aggregates in the concrete. As a result it was observed that lead mine waste aggregates do not absorb as much radiation as barite aggregates depending on the ratio increase of lead mine waste in the aggregate added to the concrete mixture. However the absorbed radiation amount was observed to be higher compared to limestone aggregates.