Monte Carlo Investigation of the Attenuation Characteristics of Granite Doped with Palm Kernel Shell Ash
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2026-1016-5862Keywords:
Granite, Palm Kernel Shell Ash, Gamma-Ray Attenuation, Monte Carlo Simulation, TOPAS, Radiation ShieldingAbstract
Radiation shielding materials that combine effective attenuations with environmental sustainability are increasingly being investigated as alternatives to conventional shielding materials. This study investigates the gamma-ray attenuation characteristics of granite doped with palm kernel shell ash (PKSA) using Monte Carlo simulation with the Tool for Particle Simulation (TOPAS), based on the Geant4 platform. Six composite samples (M1–M6), containing 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 wt.% PKSA, were investigated at photon energies of 0.015, 0.050, 0.100, 0.300, 0.662, and 1.500 MeV, with 1,000,000 photon histories used for each simulation. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) and mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) were calculated from the Beer–Lambert relation. Both LAC and MAC decreased noticeably with increasing photon energy for all samples, with the largest reduction occurring between 0.015 and 0.050 MeV. This behaviour mainly reflects the strong contribution of the photoelectric effect at low photon energies, while Compton scattering becomes increasingly important at higher energies. The attenuation coefficients generally increased with increasing PKSA content, with M6 exhibiting the highest LAC and MAC values, particularly at low photon energies. The differences among the composites became smaller at higher photon energies. The results indicates that PKSA incorporation can gradually improves the photon attenuation characteristics of granite-based composites, particularly at low photon energies.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Bethel Abako, Abdullahi Abubakar Mundi, Mohammed Mustapha Idris
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