Calculation of radiation attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers and electron densities for some building materials

Some building materials, regularly used in Turkey, such as sand, cement, gas concrete (lightweight, aerated concrete), tile and brick, have been investigated in terms of mass attenuation coefficient (mu/(rho)), effective atomic, numbers (Z(eff)), effective electron densities (N-e) and photon interaction cross section (sigma(a)) at 14 different energies from 81- to 1332-keV gamma-ray energies. The gamma rays were detected by using gamma-ray spectroscopy, a High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. The elemental compositions of samples were analysed using an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Mass attenuation coefficients of these samples have been compared with tabulations based upon the results of WinXcom. The theoretical mass attenuation coefficients were estimated using the mixture rule and the experimental values of investigated parameters were compared with the calculated values. The agreement of measured values of mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic numbers, effective electron densities and photon interaction cross section with the theory has been found to be quite satisfactory.