On the morning of August 22, at the University of Science, VNU-HCM, Doctoral Researcher Lê Hoàng Minh successfully defended his doctoral thesis in Atomic and Nuclear Physics, entitled “Investigation of Gamma-Ray Shielding Characteristics and Oxide Composition of Fe₂O₃-Doped Concrete Using a Combined Experimental and Simulation Approach.” The dissertation was supervised by Assoc. Prof. Trần Thiện Thanh.
Advancing Research on Radiation Shielding Materials
The dissertation focuses on the development of radiation-shielding concrete incorporating iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), with the aim of improving gamma-ray shielding performance while maintaining the required mechanical properties of the material.
The research findings demonstrate that the incorporation of Fe₂O₃ increases concrete density and enhances its shielding effectiveness against low-energy gamma radiation by up to 19%, while maintaining a compressive strength corresponding to the B15 grade. These findings contribute to the development of specialized materials for radiation protection and safety applications.
In addition, the dissertation proposes a non-destructive method for determining material composition based on the scattering-to-count ratio (R/C), achieving an error of less than 8%. This approach offers potential for supporting the assessment and characterization of material composition without causing damage to the samples.
Another notable contribution is the integration of experimental measurements with Monte Carlo simulations using MCNP-CP, which improves the accuracy of computational modeling and reduces the deviation in the linear attenuation coefficient to approximately 0–3%.
From Scientific Research to Practical Applications
The findings of the dissertation not only contribute to scientific knowledge in the fields of radiation physics and shielding materials, but also demonstrate strong potential for practical applications in radiation safety assessment, characterization of specialized construction materials, and the design of radiation-shielding systems.
The successful defense of Doctoral Researcher Lê Hoàng Minh marks an important milestone in his research journey and reflects the commitment to high-quality postgraduate education and applied research at the Faculty of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Science, VNU-HCM.
Congratulations to Doctoral Researcher Lê Hoàng Minh. We wish Dr. Le Hoang Minh continued success in his research career and look forward to his further contributions to scientific advancement and practical solutions for society.
