MgB₂ superconductor has been synthesized using a simple technique at ambient pressure. The synthesis was carried out in helium atmosphere over a wide range of temperatures. Magnesium was employed in excess to the stoichiometry to prevent the decomposition of MgB₂. Samples of MgB₂ thus prepared have been almost free from MgO as compared to other methods. Resistivities of the samples are quite low with residual resistivity ratio (RRR) of around 3. 𝑇_c (𝑅 = 0) is 38.2–38.5 K with 𝛥𝑇_c of 0.6–1.0 K. Comparative studies of various methods of low pressure synthesis have been presented.

Plastic flow behaviour of low carbon steel has been studied at room temperature during tensile deformation by varying the initial strain rate of 3.3 × 10^-4 s^-1 to a final strain rate ranging from 1.33 × 10^-3 s^-1 to 2 × 10^-3 s^-1 at a fixed engineering strain of 12%. Haasen plot revealed that the mobile dislocation density remained almost invariant at the juncture where there was a sudden increase in stress with a change in strain rate and the plastic flow was solely dependent on the velocity of mobile dislocations. In that critical regime, the variation of stress with time was fitted with a Boltzmann type Sigmoid function. The increase in stress was found to increase with final strain rate and the time elapsed in attaining these stress values showed a decreasing trend. Both of these parameters saturated asymptotically at a higher final strain rate.

Zr–1Nb samples were irradiated with 116 MeV O⁵⁺ ions at different doses ranging from 5 × 10¹⁷ to 8 × 10¹⁸ O⁵⁺/m². X-ray diffraction line profile analysis was performed to characterize the microstructural parameters of these samples. Average domain size, microstrain and dislocation density were estimated as a function of dose. An anomaly was observed in the values of these parameters at a dose of 2 × 10¹⁸ O⁵⁺/m². Positron annihilation spectroscopy was used to determine the existence and nature of vacancy clusters in the samples. Isochronal annealing was carried out for a sample to study the evolution of defect clusters.

The Portevin–Le Chatelier (PLC) effect is a kind of plastic instability observed in many dilute alloys when deformed at certain ranges of strain rate and temperature. In this paper we present a comprehensive statistical analysis of the observed experimental data obtained during PLC effect and establish that the occurrence probability of the stress drops in the dynamical process responsible for PLC effect is Poisson in nature.