Evaluation of scattering effects for radiation shielding or filter materials by using Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract

Most radiology departments utilize ordinary concrete and lead for radiation shielding as the primary radiation can be reduced through photon absorption. There are many studies done focusing on the transmitted photons that penetrate the shielding materials for radiation shielding. However, the scattering from the shielding materials would be ignored. When high-energy photons impinge on thick shields, most of the incident energy is absorbed in the shielding materials, but some of it can also be deflected sideways or in a backward direction. This is important as the backscatter radiation can contribute to unnecessary additional radiation dose to healthcare workers. Hence, this study evaluates several shielding materials namely aluminium, iron, copper, lead, ordinary concrete, and heavy concrete particularly for its attenuated and scattered photons for radiation shielding. The shielding materials were evaluated using the Monte Carlo simulation, specifically PHITS code. In the simulation, all shielding materials were modelled as a fixed 30 x 30 cm rectangular shape with a fixed thickness of 10 cm. Mono-energy and pencil beam photon energies ranging from 100 keV until 1 MeV were directed to the shielding materials. As a result, at 100 keV, lead shielding showed the least amount of transmitted dose compared to other shielding materials. However, lead shielding also showed the highest reflected dose at the same incident photon energy. As copper showed the least amount of reflected dose at this incident energy, hence applying a thin layer of this material to lead shielding can tolerate the compromise between low transmitted dose and high reflected dose. Therefore, this can improve the radiation shielding at various irradiation facilities. In conclusion, the reflected dose for all materials studied will increase or higher when the incident photon energy increase, except for lead as well as for low-Z element materials rather than high-Z element materials.