Material Library

A number of materials are available for use as shielding, source material, and for buildup factors. Physical data for each material is stored in materialLibrary.yml.

Photon cross sections in the form of mass attenuation coefficients are available for elements with atomic numbers from 1 (Hydrogen) to 100 (Fermium). Selected additional sheilding materials are also provided, including:

  • Aluminum, 2.7 g/cm3

  • Iron, 7.874 g/cm3

  • Lead, 11.35 g/cm3

  • Air, 0.001205 g/cm3

  • Concrete, 2.3 g/cm3

  • Water, 1.0 g/cm3

  • SS304L, 8.0 g/cm3

  • UO2, 10.412 g/cm3 (95% of theoretical density)

  • Ion Exchange Resin, 2.01 g/cm3 (modeled as a mixture of water (6.47 wt%) in concrete (93.53 wt%))

Buildup factors are included in the library for the following materials. Additional buildup factors may be added to the library, while using an existing buildup factor with an atomic number close to that of the shield is usually sufficient.

Materials That include Buildup Factors

Atomic Number

Material

4

Beryllium

5

Boron

6

Carbon

7

Nitrogen

8

Oxygen

11

Sodium

12

Magnesium

13

Aluminum

14

Silicon

15

Phosphorus

16

Sulfur

18

Argon

19

Potassium

20

Calcium

28

Iron

29

Copper

42

Molybdenum

50

Tin

57

Lanthanum

64

Gadolinium

74

Tungsten

82

Lead

92

Uranium

N/A

Water

N/A

Air

N/A

Concrete

The user may add additional materials to the library by appending data to the file materialLibrary.yml. The data fields are labeled and the file format is YAML Version 1.1.