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Title |
Mortar Properties and Applicability to Neutron Shielding Concrete according to Boron Carbide and Boron Nitride Types
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Authors |
이빛나(Binna Lee) ; 이유진(Yu Jin Lee) ; 이종석(Jong-Suk Lee) ; 김유진(Yu Jin Kim) ; 김형기(Hyeongki Kim) |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.4334/JKCI.2026.38.5.701 |
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Keywords |
탄화붕소; 질화붕소; 중성자 차폐; 모르타르; 소형모듈원자로 boron carbide; boron nitride; neutron shielding; mortar; small modular reactor |
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Abstract |
In this study, the basic properties of mortars incorporating two types of boron carbide (BC1 and BC2) and two types of boron nitride (BN1 and BN2) were evaluated. Each boron compound was mixed at 5 wt% of cement, and flow and setting time tests were performed. The mortar test results showed that the boron carbide mortars exhibited flow comparable to or higher than that of the reference, whereas the boron nitride mortars exhibited a flow reduction of about 30 mm due to their finer particle size. The initial setting time of the boron-containing mixtures was delayed compared with that of the reference mixture, whereas the final setting time showed no marked difference. Based on the mortar test results and material cost, BC2 and BN1 were selected and applied to concrete. The BC2 concrete showed a compressive strength similar to that of the reference concrete, while the BN1 concrete exhibited an approximately 13% reduction in compressive strength. The neutron shielding efficiencies of the boron carbide and boron nitride concretes were approximately 33% and 31%, respectively?about twice that of the reference concrete (15%). These results can serve as fundamental data for selecting boron-based shielding materials under space-limited conditions such as those in small modular reactors.
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