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A modified multi-group model of angular and momentum distribution of cosmic ray muons for thickness measurement and material discrimination of slabs

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Abstract

Muon tomography is a capable imaging technique to measure the geometry of high-Z objects. However, most existed algorithms used in muon tomography have obscured the effects of angular distribution and momentum spectra of cosmic ray muons and reduced the spatial resolution. We present a modified multi-group model that takes into account these effects and calibrates the model by the material of lead. Performance tests establish that the model is capable of measuring the thickness of a Pb slab and identifying the material of an unknown slab on a reasonable exposure timescale, in both cases of complete and incomplete angular data. Results show that the modified multi-group model is helpful for improvements in image resolution in real applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Jiangyou, 621907, China

    Sa Xiao, Wei-Bo He, Ming-Cong Lan, Ying Chen & Mao-Bing Shuai

  2. Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, Mianyang, 621900, China

    Mao-Bing Shuai

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  1. Sa Xiao
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  2. Wei-Bo He
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  3. Ming-Cong Lan
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  4. Ying Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mao-Bing Shuai.

Additional information

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Development Foundation of CAEP (No. 2015B0103014) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11605163).

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Xiao, S., He, WB., Lan, MC. et al. A modified multi-group model of angular and momentum distribution of cosmic ray muons for thickness measurement and material discrimination of slabs. NUCL SCI TECH 29, 28 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-018-0363-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-018-0363-7

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