Improvement of Gamma-Ray Attenuation Properties of PE/Pb Composites

Abstract

This research deals with a study of the properties of radiation attenuation in full energies within an energy range (0.6 - 5MeV) in shielding of composite materials consisting of polyethylene PE reinforced with Pb lead material as a reinforcing or strengthening material and with different concentrations or weight ratios (15%, 30%, 45). %, 60% and 75% .

The study bases on determining the attenuation properties by calculating the linear attenuation coefficient of gamma rays, the thickness of the half layer, the thickness of the decimal layer, and the transmittance in the studied shielding samples .

The results of the calculations of the results of the XCOM.com program shows that the linear attenuation coefficient values increase with the increase with the concentration of lead powder as a reinforcing material in the polyethylene sample that used for the manufacture of superimposed shielding, in other words by increasing the density of the shielding material and decreasing according to the increase in the energy of the gamma ray photons.

It also shows that the half layer thickness and decimal layer thickness values decreased with increasing of the concentration of lead powder as a reinforced material in the polyethylene sample that used to manufacture the superimposed shields and it is increasing according to the increase of the energy of the gamma ray photons ..

By studying the change of permeability values with the thickness of the shielding material for all types of , it was found that it decreases with increasing the thickness of the shielding layers and it decreases its values with increasing the concentration of lead powder as a support material in the polyethylene sample and with the same manner for the incident radiation energies at values of 0.6, 1.5 and 5 MeV units .

The dependence of the permeability values on the energy of the rays was also studied, as it was found that with the increase of the energy of the interacting gamma photons, the permeability values of the rays within the material increased as the concentration and thickness of the shield material increased .

The study concludes that the best are shielding are the polyethylene superimposed shielding supported with the highest percentage of weight for lead powder (PE / 75% Pb) which is the most dense armor (ρ = 3.013857 g / cm3) because it gives the best results among other shielding. It is used as a shielding to obtain the highest value for linear attenuation and the lowest values for both the half-layer thickness and the decimal layer thickness and the lowest permeability to the gamma rays and for all the corresponding energy and thickness values.