Amorphous alloys with high Fe content for radiation shielding applications

Abstract

In this research article, the radiation shielding properties of newly developed high Fe content amorphous alloys were reported. The chemical compositions of these alloys were Fe83B9C3Si4P1, Fe84B10C2Si2P, Fe85B8C3Si3P1, and Fe86B5C8P1. Monte Carlo simulation method was successfully used to study the problem of radiation propagation through theses alloys under suitable boundary conditions of vacuum. Our results indicate that MAC value decays as photon energy grows varying from 0.0997 to 0.0387, 0.0997–0.0387, 0.0998–0.0387, and 0.0998–0.0387 cm2/g for FBCSP1, FBCSP2, FBCSP3, and FBCSP4 respectively. However, gradual increase was observed in both parameters of mean free path (MFP) and half value layer (HVL) as energy increases. The maximum and minimum value of the effective atomic number (Zeff) was 23.09 and 22.97, 23.29 and 23.17, 23.41 and 23.30, and 23.4 and 23.29 for FBCSP1– FBCSP4 respectively. FNRC (Fast Neutron Removal Cross-section) values were: 0.1538, 0.1538, 0.1536, and 0.1561cm-1 for FBCSP1– FBCSP4 respectively. Moreover, an extensive comparison was reported between the radiation shielding proficiency of the studied alloys and that of the traditional materials. It can be concluded that, FBCSP alloys can conveniently replace the traditional materials in photon shielding application especially when space is a constraint.