The experimental angular distribution data for the deuteron \(+\) 24Mg elastic scattering system at energies between 8.65 and 170 MeV were re-analysed using the nuclear optical model. Three types of real optical potentials are considered: phenomenological Woods–Saxon, microscopic folding based on effective nucleon–nucleon interactions (CDM3Y6 and JLM) and cluster-folded potentials. A combination of volume and surface imaginary potentials is important for accurately describing the experimental data. A surface contribution to the real potential simulates the dynamical polarisation potential caused by deuteron breakup, improving agreement with the measured cross-sections without needing coupled-channel calculations. The energy dependence of potential parameters, along with other calculated quantities, is also examined. Both the phenomenological and the re-normalised cluster-folded potentials show good agreement with the experimental results, with the latter aligning well with the standard re-normalised folding potential in previous studies.
