DETERMINATION OF THE LINEAR ATTENUATION COEFFICIENT OF A HETEROGENEOUS MATERIAL USED AS INSULATION BRICKS IN CEMENT INDUSTRY

Resumo

In any nuclear physics analysis, it is important to know the properties of the materials being dealt with. This work focuses on calculating the linear attenuation coefficient of a heterogeneous material used as thermal insulation brick. Although there exist theoretical calculations for this coefficient, they are designed for materials that are homogeneous. For gamma energy (662 keV), the coefficient was computed using two approaches: an experimental one and a completely theoretical one. The theoretical approach was carried out using the known properties of the components that compose the material using nuclear data available in public sources, whereas the first one was carried out using the Lambert-Beer formula and obtained gamma peak counts per second for various thicknesses of the ceramic.  The results showed that, for this material, it was possible to use the theoretical formula, which helps when dealing with gamma rays with energies other than 662 keV. The results showed that it was possible to use the theoretical formula, which helps when dealing gamma rays with energies other than 662 keV. It also showed that the experimental procedure can be used to discover the coefficient for different heterogeneous materials.