Abstract The health effects of galactic cosmic radiation are a serious impediment to crewed exploration of the solar system. OLTARIS, an interface for the 3DHZETRN deterministic radiation transport code, was used to assess the response of aerospace materials to this constant radiation exposure. Traditional aerospace structural materials like aluminum can, after a certain mass, increase the health effects of such radiation. However, materials with lower atomic mass may mitigate this build-up in secondary radiation with increasing areal density. As such, lower atomic mass structural alloys of magnesium and magnesium–lithium are promising candidates. These alloys may reduce the mass of structures when substituted for aluminum alloys. Reinforcement with boron carbide could further reduce atomic mass while also improving the mechanical properties of such lightweight alloys. This study found that the lower atomic mass of these materials increased nuclear fragmentation upon cosmic radiation interactions, leading to a softening of the secondary (neutron) radiation spectra. This softened spectra reduced the effective dose equivalent, a measure of health effects, for magnesium(-lithium) alloys and their boron carbide-reinforced composites when compared to aluminum.

    Highlights Mg and Mg-14wt%Li mitigate the build-up in secondary space radiation at high areal densities. B 4 C addition to metals also mitigates the build-up in secondary space radiation. Lower atomic masses increase fragmentation and soften the secondary neutron energy spectra.


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    Titel :

    Mitigating space radiation using magnesium(-lithium) and boron carbide composites


    Beteiligte:

    Erschienen in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 216 ; 37-43


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2023-12-08


    Format / Umfang :

    7 pages




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch