Study of mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers and electron densities of carbon steel and stainless steels

The mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho), effective atomic number (Z(Pleff)) and effective electron density (N-eff) of carbon steel and stainless steels were computed by using the WinXcom program. The mu/rho values are higher in the photo-electric absorption and pair production region and approximately constant in the Compton scattering region. The variation in mu/rho values is explained by partial interaction processes. The effective atomic numbers of the steels were also calculated by the Auto-Z(eff) program. The Z(Pleff) values of the steels were compared with experimental results for available energies and were found to be in good agreement. SS304L shows equal values of effective atomic number by both the methods in the region of interest. The electron densities of the selected steels are observed to be equal and approximately constant in the Compton scattering region.