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Analytic and stochastic methods were proposed for the determination of gamma-ray radiation shielding properties of the glassy composites. Radiation shielding properties such as mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, effective electron numbers, build-up factors (exposure build-up factors and energy absorption build-up factors) can be determined with these techniques. A versatile quaternary composite was studied with different mass ratios in order to optimize the gamma radiation attenuation. Exposure build-up factors (EBFs), energy absorption build-up factors (EABFs), effective atomic numbers (Zeff) and effective electron densities (Neff) were calculated via BXCOM. Furthermore, MCNP transport code, version of 6.2, was used to simulate the mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) and the half-value layers (HVLs) of the composites. Since they are compatible, simulation and BXCOM results denote that these methods can be used to determine the radiation shielding parameters for the glassy composites for which there are no satisfactory experimental values available. All in all, the optimum mass ratio, having the highest radiation attenuation, was determined as [Na2Si3O7/Bi2O3(65/35)/B2O3(2)/Sb2O3(11)], so that glassy composite might be preferred as a radiation shield in various applications. The quaternary glassy composites investigated in this study, performs better than ordinary concrete, getting close to pure lead as a radiation shield.

New research on composite materials was proposed for both gamma ray shielding and fireproofing. When compared to concrete, composite materials show up higher shielding properties in the 0.015 MeV–15 MeV incident energy range. The composite was prepared with vanadium slag, epoxy resin and antimony-trioxide. Different ratios of ternary composite were investigated in order to determine the optimum ratio for shielding and anti-flame properties. Photon atomic parameters with shielding were determined by BXCOM and MCNP 6.2. BXCOM program determines the buildup factors (both EBF and EABF) in the 0.015–15 MeV energy range for up to 40 mean free path (mfp) penetration depth. It uses geometric progression (G-P) fitting method. The effective electron number ( N e f f ) and the effective atomic number ( Z e f f ) were also obtained with the BXCOM software. Furthermore, parameters such as the mass attenuation coefficients ( μ ρ ) , half-value layer (HVL) and tenth-value layer (TVL) were determined by MCNP 6.2 in order to confirm and compare with WinXCOM results. Obtained results may be concluded to have preferable shielding properties for the composite as an alternative to concrete. Antimony-trioxide (x=0.03), was found to exhibit the minimum EBF and EABF values, and is a convenient radiation shielding material. The Epoxy resin-vanadium slag and antimony-trioxide ternary glassy composite indicates better radiation shielding properties than concrete, but weaker than lead.