Gamma photon-neutron attenuation parameters of marble concrete by MCNPX code

The present study aims to investigate the gamma photon-neutron attenuation parameters of the marble concrete such as the linear attenuation coefficient (mu), Mass Attenuation Coefficient (MAC), Half Value Layer (HVL), neutron removal cross-section (Sigma(R)), and Exposure Buildup Factor (EBF) by MCNPX Monte Carlo code to examine the possibility of utilizing selected samples against gamma photon-neutron. The six types of marble concrete were exposed to different energies ranging from 511 to 1332 keV. The shielding effectiveness of the selected marble concrete was compared to each other and the obtained results show that the increment of the penetration depth causes an increase in the value of EBF and the sharp peak is monitored at 200 keV. The Sigma(R) (neutron removal cross-section) values were also reported for all types of marble concrete. The outcomes depict that Sigma(R) is strongly relevant to the weight fractions of light elements of the selected shielding materials. Furthermore, the variations of sigma(a) (total atomic cross-section) were reviewed and discussed versus wide energy ranges. Findings in all sections confirmed that NM-15 has the best gamma photon shielding quality in comparison with the other types of marble concrete, while NM-0 and NM-15 show the highest neutron proficiency.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the gamma photon-neutron attenuation parameters of marble concrete using MCNPX Monte Carlo code. The results showed that an increase in penetration depth led to an increase in Exposure Buildup Factor, and that Sigma(R) was closely related to the weight fractions of light elements in the selected shielding materials. NM-15 exhibited the best gamma photon shielding quality compared to other types of marble concrete.