A comprehensive evaluation of Mg-Ni based alloys radiation shielding features for nuclear protection applications

Abstract

The current study aims to study the impacts of the substitution of magnesium with nickel concentrations on physical and γ-ray shielding capacity of magnesium alloys. The density of the magnesium alloys under study is varied from 3.677 g/cm3 to 5.652 g/cm3, with raising the nickel content from 26.7 wt% to 54.8 wt% and reducing the magnesium concentration from 72.6 wt% to 44.2 wt%, respectively. Additionally, the examination of the γ-ray shielding capacity using the Monte Carlo simulation code shows that the substitution of magnesium by nickel content in the magnesium alloys was associated with an enhancement in the γ-ray shielding capacity, where the linear attenuation coefficient for the studied alloys was enhanced by 53.22 %, 52.45 %, and 52.52 % at γ-ray energies of 0.662 MeV, 1.252 MeV, and 1.408 MeV, respectively, with raising the nickel concentration from 26.7 wt% to 54.8 wt%. Simultaneously, the half-value thickness for magnesium alloys was reduced from 2.47 cm to 1.62 cm (at gamma ray energy of 0.662 MeV), from 3.39 cm to 2.22 cm (at gamma ray energy of 1.252 MeV), and from 3.60 cm to 2.36 cm (at gamma ray energy of 1.408 MeV), raising the nickel concentration from 26.7 wt% to 54.8 wt%, respectively. The study shows that the substitution of magnesium for nickel greatly enhanced the radiation shielding capacity of the magnesium alloys.