Submitted by Claudinei Pracidelli (cpracide@ipen.br) on 2015-06-09T18:22:48Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-09T18:22:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / O presente trabalho teve como objetivo utilizar a técnica nuclear de Correlação Angular γ-γ Perturbada (CAP) para a medida de interações hiperfinas em filmes finos e amostras em pó de óxidos semicondutores SnO2 e TiO2 puros e dopados com metais de transição para uma investigação sistemática de defeitos estruturais e do magnetismo sob o ponto de vista atômico tendo como principal motivação a candidatura à aplicação desses óxidos em spintrônica. O trabalho também teve como foco a preparação e caracterização das amostras por meio de técnicas convencionais, como difração de raios X, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, espectroscopia de energia dispersiva e medidas de magnetização. Amostras puras dos filmes foram medidas mediante a variação sistemática da temperatura de tratamento térmico e do campo magnético aplicado. Tais medidas foram realizadas no HISKP, na Universidade de Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), através de implantação de íons de 111In(111Cd) ou 181Hf(181Ta); no IPEN, por sua vez, essas medidas foram realizadas após a difusão dos mesmos núcleos de prova. Outra parte das medidas CAP foram feitas através de implantação de íons de 111mCd(111Cd) e 117Cd(117In) no Isotope Mass Separator On-Line (ISOLDE) do Centre Européen Recherche Nucléaire (CERN). As medidas foram realizadas nos intervalos de temperatura de 8 K a 1173 K. Para análise de ferromagnetismo, medidas foram feitas à temperatura ambiente com e sem aplicação de campo magnético externo. Após a comparação dos resultados das medidas macroscópicas e atômicas das amostras, foi possível concluir que há uma correlação entre os defeitos, o magnetismo e a mobilidade dos portadores de carga nos semicondutores aqui estudados. Um passo adiante na busca de semicondutores, cujo ordenamento magnético possibilite o seu uso na eletrônica baseada em spin. Alguns resultados já foram publicados, incluindo resultados obtidos na Universidade de Bonn durante o período de doutorado sanduíche [1-7]. / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Submitted by Marco Antonio Oliveira da Silva (maosilva@ipen.br) on 2017-11-08T16:29:11Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-08T16:29:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Nesse trabalho foram produzidas nanopartículas (NPs) de Gd2O3 e Er2O3 para aplicação como radiossensibilizadores em feixes de radioterapia. Elas foram sintetizadas no Laboratório de Interações Hiperfinas do IPEN pelo método da decomposição térmica e caracterizadas utilizando difração de raios-X, para verificar a estrutura cristalina, microscopia eletrônica de transmissão, para obter informações sobre forma, tamanho e distribuição de tamanho, análise por ativação neutrônica, por meio da qual foi possível determinar a pureza das amostras e calcular a concentração de gadolínio e érbio. Medições de magnetização e de espectroscopia de correlação angular γ-γ perturbada (PAC) foram realizadas a fim de estudar o comportamento magnético e a interação quadrupolar das partículas, respectivamente. Os resultados da caracterização mostram a formação de uma estrutura cristalina do tipo bixbyite, com aproximadamente 5 nm de diâmetro e estreita distribuição de tamanho, para as amostras pós-síntese. A determinação da massa de terra-rara em cada amostra foi importante para realizar a normalização nas medições de susceptibilidade magnética, tornando possível a visualização de um grande aumento na magnetização abaixo de 30 K, nas amostras pós-síntese, o que não é observado em partículas maiores, além de um aumento no momento magnético efetivo das NPs em relação aos respectivos bulks e uma mudança na temperatura de ordenamento antiferromagnético para o Er2O3. Os resultados da espectroscopia PAC evidenciam possíveis efeitos de superfície. A falta de uma frequência bem definida nas amostras de 5 nm indicam que a quantidade de 111In(111Cd) na superfície da partícula é maior do que no interior da mesma, fazendo com que a interação hiperfina do núcleo de prova com o host não seja evidente. Já a união da técnica de difração de raios-X com a espectroscopia PAC foi fundamental para o entendimento do dano causado às partículas pela irradiação com 60Co. Quanto às medições de radiossensibilização a dosimetria Fricke gel foi fundamental para a verificação de um fator de aumento de dose (DEF) de até 1,67 e 1,09 para NPs de Gd2O3 irradiadas com 60Co e 6MV, respectivamente. Nas mesmas condições, para as amostras de Er2O3, foram encontrados valores de DEF de até 1,37 e 1,06. Isso comprova os efeitos radiossensibilizadores dessas NPs. Os resultados alcançados nesse trabalho não apenas fornecem dados importantes para o estudo de NPs de terra-rara na área de física da matéria condensada como também uma base sólida para a aplicação desses elementos como radiossensibilizadores em feixes de radioterapia, possibilitando a utilização da imagem por ressonância magnética para localizar e obter a concentração dessas NPs dentro do paciente, aumentando assim a eficiência do tratamento do câncer. / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T18:01:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo2356_1.pdf: 8441876 bytes, checksum: 31a6f5c664996110b64b2134094cdd42 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Nesta tese, realizamos experiências relacionadas com o armazenamento de informação óptica em um ensemble de átomos frios de césio. A configuração experimental utilizada foi semelhante à de mistura de quatro ondas degenerada resolvida no tempo, usando a geometria conhecida como conjugação de fase óptica. Investigamos, tanto teórica quanto experimentalmente, diversos efeitos coerentes e mostramos explicitamente o armazenamento de uma grade de coerência entre os subníveis Zeeman pertencentes a um nível hiperfino do estado fundamental do césio. Analisamos o comportamento da energia dos pulsos gerados em função das intensidades dos campos envolvidos e observamos diferentes comportamentos de saturação. Em outro experimento, estudamos as correlações de energia entre diferentes modos temporais e espaciais gerados coerentemente pelo meio, o qual permitiu observar que os efeitos de emissão espontânea são predominantes quando cada transição do sistema é acessada com mesma intensidade de leitura. As larguras temporais dos modos envolvidos no processo mostraram ser invariantes quando a intensidade total de leitura se mantém constante. Realizamos também, usando um campo magnético externo, uma investigação sobre a evolução coerente do estado armazenado. Medimos a evolução temporal do sinal difratado em duas condições experimentais distintas: com o campo magnético externo aplicado paralelo e perpendicularmente à direção de propagação dos campos ópticos. Em ambos os casos, observamos uma série de collapses and revivals que estão intimamente relacionados com a precessão de Larmor da grade Zeeman armazenada em torno do campo magnético aplicado externamente. Finalmente, realizamos experiências envolvendo modos do campo eletromagnético que possuem momentum angular orbital (MAO). Demonstramos o armazenamento de estados de MAO e de suas superposições coerentes, bem como sua manipulação com campos magnéticos externos. Mostraremos que o MAO óptico pode ser armazenado, manipulado e recuperado coerentemente a partir do sistema atômico.

Plusieurs industries manipulent des substances liquides et gazeuses qui circulent souvent dans de longues canalisations. La technique d'ondes guidées est couramment utilisée dans ce domaine. Cette technique est en progrès continu. Dans cette thèse, un système d'inspection a été conçu et développé. Il est basé sur des transducteurs piézoélectriques qui génèrent des ondes guidées de torsion pouvant se propager le long du tube testé. Les signaux réfléchis des défauts et singularités rencontrés sont détectés aussi par des capteurs piézoélectriques. Des simulations numériques utilisantpar la méthode d'éléments finis standard et la méthode Wave Finite Element(WFEM) ont été effectuées afin de vérifier et de visualiser le phénomène de propagation des ondes dans des tubes intacts et endommagés. Un ensemble de tests a été mis en place sur des tubes droits et courbés avec deux matériaux différents: PVC et acier. L'interaction entre les ondes générées et les défauts usinés a été prouvée.Les résultats numériques et expérimentaux confirment certaines caractéristiques spécifiques concernant le coefficient de réflexion de l'onde. Par la suite, un pipeline industriel d'environ soixante mètres de long et contenant plusieurs défauts et singularités a été testé par le système d'inspection. Les signaux enregistrés ont soumis certains traitements numériques afin de les rendre exploitables. Les signaux traités sont analysés afin d'identifier et de distinguer les réflexions des défauts de celles des singularités structurés. La méthode WFEM a été employée pour construire une base de données numérique des coefficients de réflexion en variant la profondeur et les extensions axiale et circonférentielle du défaut modélisé. Le calcul a été établi en fonction de la fréquence. La corrélation des tailles des défauts est effectuée en balayant la base de données numérique pour trouver la combinaison appropriée de dimensions pour un défaut donné. Les réflexions à partir des singularités structurées (coudes, blocs de béton, colliers, et les soudures) sont traitées ainsi en comparant des coefficients de réflexion obtenus par WFEM à ceux évalués expérimentalement. Enfin, on a étudié numériquement l'effet de la position angulaire d'un défaut sur les coefficients de réflexion et de transmission tout en excitant à différents types d'ondes. La méthode WFE est aussi utilisée pour effectuer le calcul. Cette étude donne un guide à la localisation circonférentielle des défauts dans les tubes. / Long pipelines are widely used in several industries transporting liquid or gas. The guided wave technique is commonly used in this field and it is under continuing progress. In this thesis, an inspection system has been designed and developed. Piezoelectric transducers are employed to generate torsional guided waves that could propagate along the tested pipe; and receive reflected signals from encountered features and damages. Numerical simulations using standard FE and Wave Finite Element methods have been carried out in order to verify and visualize the wave propagation phenomenon in both intact and damaged pipes. A set of tests has been performed on straight and curved pipes with two different materials: PVC and steel. The interaction between generated waves and machined defects has been proven. Numerical and experimental results confirm some specific features in the wave reflection coefficient. Thereafter, an industrial pipeline of about sixty meters long and containing several features has been tested by the inspection system.Recorded signals had submitted some numerical treatments in order to make them interpretable. Processed signals are analyzed to identify defects reflections from structured singularities echoes. The Wave Finite Element Method (WFEM) has been used to construct a numerical database of reflection coefficients from modelled defects by varying thickness, axial and circumferential extents. Calculation was made depending on frequency. The approximation of defect sizes is carried out by sweeping the numerical database to find the suitable combination of dimensions fora given defect. Reflections from structural singularities (elbows, concrete blocks,clamps, and welds) are treated as well by comparing reflection coefficients obtained by WFEM to those evaluated experimentally. Finally, a numerical investigation deals with the effect of defect angular-position on reflection and transmission coefficients while exciting by different types of waves. The spectral method Wave Finite Element has been used to carry out calculation. This study gives guidance to circumferential localization of defects in pipes.

Contexte : La chromodynamique quantique (CDQ), théorie de l’interaction forte, prédit un nouvel état de la matière, le plasma de quarks et de gluons (PQG) dont les degrés de liberté fondamentale, les quarks et les gluons, peuvent bouger quasi-librement. Les hautes températures et densités de particules, qui sont nécessaires, sont supposées être les conditions de l’univers dans ses premiers moments ou dans les étoiles à neutrons. Récemment elles ont été recrées par des collisions de noyaux d’ions lourdes à hautes énergies. Ces expériences étudient le PQG par la détection des particules de hautes énergies qui traversent le milieu, notamment, les quarks lourds. Les mécanismes de leur perte d’énergie dans le PQG ne sont pas compris complètement. Particulièrement, ils sont attribués aux processus soit de radiation induite par le milieu, soit de collisions de particules de type 2 vers 2, ou des combinaisons.Méthodes : Afin de trouver de nouvelles observables pour pouvoir distinguer les mécanismes de la perte d’énergie, on a implémenté un algorithme Monte-Carlo, qui simule la formation des cascades des particules à partir d’une particule initiale. Pour traiter le milieu, on a introduit des interactions PQG-jets, qui correspondent aux processus collisionnels et radiatifs. Les corrélations entre deux particules finales des cascades, dont une représente un quark trigger, ont été examinées comme moyen pour distinguer les modèles.Résultats : La dépendance de l’ouverture angulaire pour des corrélations entre deux particules en fonction des énergies des particules peut servir comme moyen pour séparer les mécanismes collisionnels et radiatifs de la perte d’énergie dans le milieu. / Context: Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong interactions, predicts a new state of matter, the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), where its fundamental degrees of freedom, the quarks and gluons, behave quasi-freely. The required high temperatures and/orparticle densities can be expected for the early stages of the universe and in neutron stars, but have lately become accessible by highly energetic collisions of heavy ion cores. Commonly, these experiments study the QGP by the detection of hard probes, i.e. highly energetic particles, most notably heavy quarks, that pass the medium. The mechanisms of their energy-loss in the QGP are not yet completely understood. In particular, they are attributed to processes of either additional, medium induced radiation or 2 to 2 particle scattering, or combinations thereof.Methods: In a theoretical, phenomenological approach to search for new observables that allow discriminating between these collisional and radiative energy-loss mechanisms a Monte-Carlo algorithm that simulates the formation of particle cascades from an initial particle was implemented. For the medium, different types of QGP-jet interactions, corresponding to collisional and/orradiative energy loss, were introduced. Correlations between pairs of final cascade particles, where one represents a heavy trigger quark, were investigated as a means to differentiate between these models.Findings: The dependence of angular opening for two particle correlations as a function of particle energy may provide a means to disentangle collisional and radiative mechanisms of in-medium energy loss.

Dans l’industrie de fabrication mécanique et notamment pour l’utilisation des centres d’usinage haute vitesse, la connaissance des propriétés dynamiques du système broche-outil-pièce en opération est d’une grande importance. L’accroissement des performances des machines-outils et des outils de coupe a œuvré au développement de ce procédé compétitif. D’innombrables travaux ont été menés pour accroître les performances et les remarquables avancées dans les matériaux, les revêtements des outils coupants et les lubrifiants ont permis d’accroître considérablement les vitesses de coupe tout en améliorant la qualité de la surface usinée. Cependant, l’utilisation rationnelle de cette technologie est encore fortement pénalisée par les lacunes dans la connaissance de la coupe, que ce soit au niveau microscopique des interactions fines entre l’outil et la matière coupée, aussi bien qu’au niveau macroscopique intégrant le comportement de la cellule élémentaire d’usinage, si bien que le comportement dynamique en coupe garde encore une grande part de questionnement et exige de l’utilisateur un bon niveau de savoir-faire et parfois d’empirisme pour exploiter au mieux les capacités des moyens de production. Le fonctionnement des machines d’usinage engendre des vibrations qui sont souvent la cause des dysfonctionnements et accélère l’usure des composantes mécaniques (roulements) et outils. Ces vibrations sont une image des efforts internes des systèmes, d’où l’intérêt d’analyser les grandeurs mécaniques vibratoires telle que la vitesse ou l’accélération vibratoire. Ces outils sont indispensables pour une maintenance moderne dont l’objectif est de réduire les coûts liés aux pannes / In machining field, chatter phenomenon takes a lot of interest because manufacturing enterprises are turning to the automation system and the development of reliable and robust monitoring system to provide increased productivity, improved part quality and reduced costs. Chatter occurrence has several negatives effects: a) Poor surface quality, b) Unacceptable inaccuracy, c) Excessive noise, d) Machine tool damage, e) Reduced material removal rate, f) Increase costs in terms of production time, g) Waste of material, h) Environmental impact in terms of materials and energy. Moreover, chatter monitoring is not an easy task for various reasons. Firstly, the non linearity of machining processes and the time-varying of systems complicate this task. Secondly, the sensitivity and the dependency of acquired signals from sensors on different factors, such as machining condition, cutting tool geometry and workpiece material. Thirdly, at high rotating speeds, the gyroscopic effects on the spindle dynamics in addition to the centrifugal force on the bearings and thermal effects become more relevant thus affecting the stability of the system. For these reasons, demands for an advanced automatic chatter detection and monitoring system for optimizing and controlling machining processes becomes a topic of enormous interest. Several researches in this field are performed. Advanced monitoring and detection methods are developed mostly relying on time, frequency and time-frequency analysis. In order to detect chatter in milling centers, three new methods are studied and developed using advanced techniques of signal processing and exploiting cyclostationarity property of signals acquired

Nous présentons une approche alternative aux diagonalisations exactes de calculs en modèles en couches pour l'étude microscopique de la structure nucléaire. Nous avons tout d'abord minimisé l'énergie totale du système par la résolution des équations Hartree-Fock dans la base définie par l'espace de valence du modèle en couches. Nous avons finalisé la mise au point de ce programme par comparaison des résultats avec les solutions de problèmes solubles analytiquement comme ceux d'un hamiltonien SU(3) ou par comparaison avec des diagonalisations exactes du modèle en couches. Ensuite, nous avons mis au point des procédures pour l'obtention de ces mêmes calculs avec contraintes pour une description complète de la surface d'énergie potentielle d'un noyau donné en fonction des degrés de liberté Q20 et Q22. La restauration du moment angulaire par méthode de projections a permis d'obtenir les spectres des noyaux rotationnels dans le cas axial et dans le cas triaxial. Enfin, la méthode des coordonnées génératrices a permis le mélange de ces déterminants de Slater non orthogonaux. Parmi les différentes applications, nous avons pu décrire les noyaux déformés le long de la ligne N=Z autour du80Zr ou un nouvel îlot d'inversion à N=50. / We present an alternative approach to shell diagonalizations for microscopic description of nuclear structure. First we minimized the total system energy solving the Hartree-Fock equations within the shell model valence space. The results are compared with exact shell model diagonalization and an exact soluble SU(3) hamiltonian. Then, we developed procedures to obtain the same of type calculations with constrained conditions on the quadrupole degrees of freedom to obtain the full potential energy surfaces. The angular momentum restauration was obtained through projection method to generate rotionnal spectra of nuclei in both axial and triaxial cases. Finally the generate coordinate method was applied to mix several of these non-orthogonal Slater determinants. Among several applications we managed to describe deformed nuclei along the N=Z line around 80Zr or a new island of deformation at N=50. Finally, a first application in the superheavy region predicts a spherical gap for the Z=114, N=184 isotope

La cryo-microscopie électronique est une technique tomographique permettant de reconstituer la structure 3D d’un objet complexe en biologie à partir d’un jeu d’acquisitions. Ces images de l’objet complexe sont appelées les projections et sont acquises sous orientations inconnues. Un des avantages de la cryo-microscopie électronique est l’obtention d’un modèle 3D de très haute résolution de l’objet dans un état naturel. La procédure de reconstruction comporte plusieurs étapes telles que l’alignement, la classification des projections, l’estimation de leurs orientations et le raffinement des projections. Lors de ces étapes, la distance entre deux projections est fréquemment mesurée. Le travail réalisé au cours de cette thèse s’organise autour de la recherche théorique d’une distance entre des projections non-orientées avec comme objectif l’amélioration de la procédure de reconstruction tomographique en cryo-microscopie électronique. La contribution de ce travail de thèse est une méthode permettant d’estimer la différence angulaire entre deux projections dans les cas 2D et 3D. Notre méthode est basée sur la construction d’un graphe de voisinage dont les sommets sont les projections, dont les arêtes relient des projections voisines et sont pondérées par une approximation locale de la différence angulaire. Le calcul de ces poids repose sur les propriétés des moments de projection. Notre méthode est testée sur des images simulées de différentes résolutions et de différents niveaux du bruit. La comparaison avec des autres méthodes d’estimation de la différence angulaire est aussi réalisée. / Cryo-electron microscopy is a tomographic technique allowing to reconstruct a 3D model of complex structure in biology from a set of acquired images. These images are known as the tomographic projections and are taken at unknown directions. The advantage of the cryo-electron microscopy is the 3D reconstruction at very high resolution. The reconstruction procedure consists of many steps such as projection alignment, projection classification, orientation estimation and projection refinement. During these steps, the distance between two projections is frequently measured. The work in this thesis aims at studying the distances mesured between two unknown-direction projections with the objective of improving the reconstruction result in the cryo-electron microscopy. The contribution of this thesis is the developement of a method for estimating the angular difference between two projections in 2D and 3D. Our method is based on the construction of a neighborhood graph whose vertices are the projections, whose edges link the projection neighbors and are weighted by a local approximation of the angular difference. The calculation of the weights relies on the projection moment properties. The proposed method has been tested on simulated images with different resolutions and at different noise levels. The comparison with others estimation methods of angular difference has been realised.

Ce travail consiste en l'étude de phénomènes optomécaniques en d'interaction spin-orbite de la lumière, en utilisant des milieux inhomogènes et anisotropes comme systèmes modèles, différents types de systèmes matériels étant considérés en pratique. En particulier,nous avons utilisé des défauts de cristaux liquides nématiques pour lesquels nous avons identifié expérimentalement d'un couple optique de nature spin-orbite conduisant à des modifications de champ d'orientation moléculaire du cristal liquide. Aussi, grâce à l'utilisation de verres nanostructurés artificiellement permettant un contrôle de l'interaction spin-orbite à la demande,nous mettons en évidence un phénomène de couple optique inverse qui est l'analogue angulaire des forces optiques dites négatives. Cet effet optomécanique contre-intuitif est démontré expérimentalement, d'une manière indirecte, grâce à la mise en place de diverses expériences de décalage en fréquence Doppler associées aux degrés de liberté de rotation. Enfin, nous présentons nos tentatives en vue de réaliser expérimentalement l'observation directe d'un couple optique inverse. Plusieurs options sont envisagées, qui comprennent à la fois des approches à base de matériaux métalliques ou diélectriques. De manière générale, cela implique la miniaturisation des systèmes considérés, ce qui est effectué à la fois à l'échelle millimétrique et micrométrique. / This work focuses on angular optomechanics driven by the spin-orbit interaction of light, using inhomogeneous and anisotropic media as model systems and different kinds of such material systems are considered in practice. In particular, we use nematic liquid crystal defects and report on the direct experimental observation of spin-orbit optical radiation torque that leads to distortion of molecular orientation pattern of the defects. Then, by using solid-state spin-orbit couplers of arbitrary order made of artificially nanostructured glasses, we unveil an optical torque reversal phenomenon that is the angular counterpart of so-called optical negative forces. This counterintuitive optomechanical effect is experimentally retrieved, in an indirect manner, via rotational Doppler frequency shift experiments. Finally, we report on our attempts to build up an experimental framework allowing the direct observation of optical torque reversal. Several options are considered, which include both metallic and dielectric approaches and involve sample miniaturization that has been explored at the millimeter and micrometer scale.

Magnesium alloys have poor formability at room temperature, due to a limited number of slip systems owing to the hexagonal closed packed structure of magnesium. One possibility to increase the formability of magnesium alloys is to refine the grain size. A fine grain magnesium alloy shows high strength and high ductility at room temperature, hence an improved formability. In addition to grain refinement, the formability of Mg alloys can be improved by controlling crystallographic texture. Severe plastic deformation (SPD) processes namely, equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and multi-axial forging (MAF) have led to improvement in room temperature mechanical property of magnesium alloys. Further, it has been reported that by adding rare earth elements, room temperature ductility is enhanced to nearly 30%. The increase in property is attributed to crystallographic texture. Many rare earth elements have been added to magnesium alloys and new alloy systems have been developed. Amongst these elements, Ce addition has been shown to enhance the tensile ductility in rolled sheets at room temperature by causing homogeneous deformation. It has been observed that processing of rare-earth containing alloys below 300°C is difficult. Processing at higher temperatures leads to grain growth which ultimately leads to low strength at room temperature. The present thesis is an attempt to combine the effect SPD and rare earth addition, and to examine the overall effect on microstructure and texture, hence on room temperature mechanical properties. In this thesis, Mg-0.2%Ce alloy has been studied with regard to the two SPD processes, namely, ECAP and MAF. The thesis has been divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 is dedicated to introduction and literature review pertaining to different severe plastic deformation processes as applied to different Mg alloys. Chapter 2 includes the details of experimental techniques and characterization procedures, which are commonly employed for the entire work. Chapter 3 addresses the effect of ECAP on the evolution of texture and microstructure in Mg-0.2%Ce alloy. ECAP has been carried out on two different initial microstructure and texture in the starting condition, namely forged and extruded. ECAP has been successfully carried out for the forged billets at 250°C while cracks get developed in the extruded billet when ECAP was done at 250°C. The difference in the deformation behaviour of the two alloys has been explained on the basis of the crystallographic texture of the initial materials. The microstructure of the ECAP materials indicates the occurrence of recrystallization. The recrystallization mechanism is identified as “continuous dynamic recovery and recrystallization” (CDRR) and is characterized by a rotation of the deformed grains by ~30⁰ along c-axis. The yield strengths and ductility of the two ECAP materials have been found quite close. However, there is a difference in the yield strength as well as ductility values when the materials were tested under compression. The extruded billet has the tension compression asymmetry ~1.7 while the forged material has the asymmetry as ~2.2. After ECAP, the yield asymmetry reduces to ~1 for initially extruded billet, while for the initially forged billet the yield asymmetry value reduces to ~1.9. In chapter 4, the evolution of microstructure and texture was examined using another severe plastic deformation technique, namely multi axial forging (MAF). In this process, the material was plastically deformed by plane strain compression subsequently along all three axes. In this case also two different initial microstructures and texture were studied, namely the material in as cast condition and the extruded material. The choice of initial materials in this case was done in order to examine the effect of different initial grain size in addition to different textures. By this method, the alloy Mg-0.2%Ce could be deformed without fracture at a minimum temperature of 350⁰C leading to fine grain size (~3.5 µm) and a weak texture. Grain refinement was more in the initial cast billets compared to the initial extruded billet after processing. The mechanism of grain refinement has been identified as twin assisted dynamic recrystallization (TDRX) and CDRR type. The mechanical properties under tension as well as under compression were also evaluated in the present case. The initially extruded billet has shown low tension compression asymmetry (~1.2) than cast billet (~1.9), after MAF. Chapter 5 addresses the exclusive effect of texture on room temperature tensile properties of the alloy. Different textures were the outcomes of ECAP and MAF processes. In this case, in order to obtain an exact role of texture, a third of deformation mode, rolling, was also introduced. All the processed materials were annealed to obtain similar grain size but different texture. A similar strength and ductility for ECAP and MAF, where the textures were qualitatively very different, was attributed to the fact that texture of both the ECAP and MAF processed materials, was away from the ideal end orientation for tensile tests. In chapter 7, the final outcomes of the thesis have been summarized and scope for the future work has been presented.