A synergistic experimental–theoretical study of radiation attenuation in locally manufactured Iraqi glasses

In this context, we examine the physical, structural, and gamma-ray shielding properties of six Iraqi traditional glass samples (S1–S6). The elemental composition was analyzed using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) while the Archimedes' principle were used for density measurement. In addition, gamma-ray attenuation tests were performed with an NaI(Tl) scintillation detector across photon energies of 60–662 keV. Different shielding parameters including linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), tenth-value layer (TVL), transmission factor (TF and effective atomic number (Z eff ) were determined and compared to theoretical predictions from Phy-X software. The densities of the glass samples ranging from 2.41 to 2.475 g/cm 3 . At 60 keV, the LAC values ranged from 0.471 to 0.645 cm -1 , while at higher energies (609–662 keV) it was about 0.176 and 0.188 cm -1 respectively. Among the samples, S2 showed the best shielding efficiency due to higher contents of sodium and magnesium, achieving the lowest HVL (1.075 cm) and an RPE of about 72% at a thickness of 2 cm at lower photon energies. The experimental MAC values of about 0.072 to 0.075 cm 2 /g aligned closely with Phy-X calculations and compared with ordinary and commercial concrete.