Optimising Shielding Capacity: Pressure Effects on Diatomaceous Earth Composite Materials mixed with Sodium Silicate

A five pressured diatomite clay materials samples were produced as a mixture of diatomaceous earth mineral and sodium silicate for the purpose of this investigation. The forming pressures ranged from 22.84 MPa to 114.24 MPa, and the samples were formed under a variety of conditions. The ratio of Na₂SiO₃ to the total mass of the produced pressed samples was maintained at precisely 15 wt.% throughout the process. Through the process of increasing the forming pressure, the density of the pressed samples was increased by ~ 11%. For the purpose of determining how the forming pressure will affect the shielding capacity, the Monte Carlo simulation was applied. The linear attenuation of the fabricated pressed diatomite samples improves from 0.123 to 0.136 cm⁻¹ when the forming pressure is increased from 22.84 MPa to 114.24 MPa. By increasing the pressure from 22.84 MPa to 114.24 MPa, the half-value thickness reduced from 5.63 cm to 5.09 cm, and the thickness equivalent = 1 cm of pure Pb metal decreased from 10.09 cm to 9.12 cm. It was found that elevating the forming pressure resulted in an augmentation of the fast neutron removal for the artificially manufactured pressed diatomite samples.