Improvement of magnetostrictive properties of Fe-15mol%Ga alloy by texture formation during high temperature uniaxial compression deformation

The texture control of Fe-Ga solid solution alloy is examined by high temperature deformation, based on the previously suggested mechanism of high temperature deformation texture formation, "preferential dynamic grain growth (PDGG)". As the result of uniaxial compression deformation of Fe-15 mol% Ga alloy at 1 173 K, sharp alignment of <001> along the compression axis was observed. Microstructural observation by EBSD revealed that the <001> alignment was attributable to the growth of <001> oriented grains. The observed textures and microstructures were similar to those seen in the previous studies of Fe-Si alloys, in which the activation of PDGG was confirmed. Based on these facts, it is concluded that PDGG can be applied as a texture control technique for Fe-Ga alloy. The deformed sample showed larger saturation magnetostriction than the sample without deformation, indicating the effectiveness of the texture control by high temperature deformation.