Comparative Analysis of Secondary Particle Production and Spatial Dose Distributions in Multilayer Concrete-Iron Shielding Systems for a 50 MeV Proton Accelerator Using FLUKA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.5083Keywords:
Proton accelerators, Monte Carlo simulation, FLUKA, neutron shielding, Multilayer shielding, Iron-concrete shieldingAbstract
Proton accelerators operating in the medium-energy range generate complex secondary radiation fields due to proton-target interactions, where neutrons constitute the dominant component from a shielding perspective. In such systems, the design of effective shielding structures requires not only appropriate material selection but also optimized layer arrangement and geometry. Although multilayer shielding approaches have been widely studied, systematic comparisons of iron–concrete configurations with varying layer sequences and structural complexity remain limited.In this study, secondary particle production and spatial dose distributions generated by 50 MeV protons interacting with a copper target were investigated under two different multilayer shielding configurations composed of iron and concrete. The first configuration consists of a complex hybrid structure with multiple iron layers embedded within concrete, while the second employs a simplified arrangement with a single inner iron layer surrounded by concrete. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the FLUKA code to evaluate secondary particle yields and two-dimensional dose distribution maps in terms of ambient dose equivalent H*(10). The results indicate that total secondary particle production and relative particle contributions remain nearly identical for both shielding designs, confirming that particle generation is primarily governed by proton–target interactions. However, significant differences were observed in spatial dose distributions. The multilayer hybrid configuration leads to more heterogeneous and spatially extended dose fields due to increased scattering and material interface effects, whereas the simplified configuration provides a more confined and homogeneous radiation field with sharper attenuation characteristics. These findings demonstrate that shielding performance is strongly influenced by layer arrangement and geometric complexity rather than particle production alone. The study highlights the importance of spatial dose control in multilayer shielding design and provides new insights into the optimization of iron–concrete hybrid shielding systems for medium-energy proton accelerator applications.
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