Experimental and theoretical investigation of Pb–Sb alloys as a gamma-radiation shielding material

Highlights: • Shielding parameters of Pb–Sb alloys. • FLUKA-MC in the simulation of transmission experiments. • Experimental and theoretical calculations of mass and linear attenuation coefficients. • Fusion technique for preparing the metal alloys. Metal alloys with variable lead and antimony content have been prepared using fusion technique. The prepared alloys formula is (Pb_xSb_yCu_0.15Al_0.1) with [x = 0.5–0.3 - 0.1–0] and [y = 0.25–0.45 - 0.65–0.75] respectively. A comparative study was conducted to find the optimum shielding parameters for the synthesized metal alloys. In terms of total mass attenuation coefficient MAC μ_m, linear attenuation coefficient LAC μ_l, half-value layer HVL, tenth-value layer TVL, mean free path MFP, effective atomic number Z_eff, electron density number N_eff, the exposure build-up factor EBF and the energy absorption build-up factor EABF the optimum shielding parameters are provided. Theoretical results were obtained from WinXCom software and interpolated at definite energy values. Simulation of the transmission experiment was conducted using FLUKA-MC software. Experimental results of the prepared metal alloys were compared with the theoretical ones, and a good agreement was found between them. It was found that present work prepared alloys composition can be used effectively as a shielding material for gamma rays with comparable attenuation percentage with high lead content alloys.