{"id":29865,"date":"2021-04-02T07:53:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T07:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sitepourvtc.com\/?page_id=29865"},"modified":"2023-09-09T06:14:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-09T06:14:10","slug":"lead-alloys","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sitepourvtc.com\/nuclear-engineering\/metals-what-are-metals\/alloys-composition-properties-of-metal-alloys\/lead-alloys\/","title":{"rendered":"Lead Alloys"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lead<\/strong> is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable and has a relatively low melting point<\/strong>. Lead is widely used as a gamma shield<\/a>. A lead shield’s major advantage is its compactness due to its higher density. It has high corrosion resistance, malleability, unusual electrical properties, and the ability to form useful alloys. Representative uses include: shielding agents against x-ray and gamma radiation; diecast grids for batteries; coatings that prepare surfaces for soldering. On the other hand, lead is extremely toxic and poses certain environmental hazards.<\/p>\n

Lead forms a wide range of low-melting <\/strong>and readily alloys with tin in all proportions, forming the tin-lead solders used widely in industry. In the nuclear industry, lead and lead-bismuth alloys can be used as reactor coolants.<\/p>\n

Lead and Lead-bismuth Eutectic<\/h2>\n

Lead, lead-bismuth eutectic<\/strong>, and other metals have also been proposed and occasionally used. The lead-cooled fast reactor<\/strong> is a nuclear reactor design that features a fast neutron spectrum and molten lead<\/strong> or lead-bismuth eutectic<\/strong> coolant. Lead-Bismuth Eutectic or LBE is a eutectic alloy of lead (44.5%) and bismuth (55.5%). Molten lead or lead-bismuth eutectic can be used as the primary coolant because lead and bismuth have low neutron absorption<\/strong><\/a> and relatively low melting points.<\/p>\n

Melting and boiling points of lead and lead-bismuth eutectic mixture are:<\/p>\n