Study of shielding properties for polyamide 6/acrylonitrile-butadiene – styrene blends using non–destructive assay technique

Polymer material such as 6/Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene Blends with different concentrations has been prepared and its gamma shielding properties was investigated using experimental technique and Monte Carlo Neutral Particle version 5 (MCNP5) program. The experimental setup and also the MCNP5 program were designed using 137Cs as a gamma ray source. The purpose of this work was to characterize 6/Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene Blends behaviour against gamma rays, as well as to test different blend concentrations in an effort to improve gamma rays shielding efficiency. Linear and mass attenuation coefficients, mean free path and half value layer were determined experimentally and theoretically. Comparison between Monte Carlo calculations and experimental works showed that, the most concentration of this material under study could be used as shielding against gamma rays. A good agreement between the experimental data and Monte Carlo calculations proved that the MCNP5 simulation can be employed for determination of different attenuation properties when no experimental data are available.