Impacts of siltstone rocks on the ordinary concrete's physical, mechanical and gamma-ray shielding properties: An experimental examination

A series of ordinary concrete is casted in order to examine the influence of the manganiferous siltstone rocks on the physical, mechanical, and gamma-ray shielding properties. Thus, a partial replacement for the coarse aggregates by siltstone rocks was performed during the fabrication of the currently ordinary concrete. The test revealed that raising the siltstone concentration improved the mechanical characteristics and density of the developed concretes. The addition of siltstone rocks at concentrations ranging from 0 to 40 wt% of the coarse aggregate concentration raises the density of the concrete from 2.05 g/cm3 to 2.3 g/cm3. Furthermore, partial substitution of basalt with siltstone rocks improves gamma-ray shielding properties. The experimental results for the linear attenuation coefficient show an increase in its value from 0.146 cm1 to 0.160 cm−1 when the siltstone concentration is increased between 0 and 40 wt% at 0.662 MeV. Furthermore, increasing the concentrations of siltstone affected the half-value thickness, which varied between 4.759 and 4.319 cm at 0.662 MeV. Therefore, the replacement presents a new alternative coarse aggregate that can enhance the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of ordinary concretes.