Material properties evaluation on radiation shielding lead glasses irradiated by pulsed laser

Wakui, Takashi  ; Yamasaki, Kazuhiko*; Futakawa, Masatoshi  

As part of the development of technique to cut and reduce the volume of highly radioactive components in the closed space, pulsed Nd:YAG laser was irradiated to radiation shielding glasses with the different lead content in the different irradiation condition; power and number of irradiation. The large black irradiated area with concave shape and cracks around it occurred with an increase of the lead content, power and number of irradiation. General mechanical properties in unirradiated and irradiated area were investigated to investigate the influence of mechanical properties on the irradiation damage. The thermal impact fracture toughness calculated based on the estimated mechanical properties decreased with increasing the lead content. The micro hardness in black irradiated area was 10% smaller than that in the unirradiated area. The change of the mechanical property due to the laser irradiation was confirmed.