On gauging and control of grainy materials by gamma-ray absorptiometry in hydraulic transport of solids in pipes

Grain-size effects on γ-ray absorptiometry in non-destructive assay of rainy solid materials with uniform grain radii are widely investigated. In many applications the grain radii are not uniform, but follow more or less a distribution function. The present work offers a Monte Carlo model for γ-ray attenuation in materials with grain-size distributions. Suitable correction functions for grain-size effects have been derived. A comparison between the Monte Carlo results and those from analytical calculations shows a good agreement when the grain sizes are uniform, but a disagreement appears when grain sizes are statistically distributed. This disagreement between the two results may be due to the several approximations introduced in the analytical calculations. (author)