Neutron diffraction study on prebending effects for bronze route Nb ₃Sn wires without reinforcement

The critical current, upper critical field and critical temperature of bronze route Nb₃Sn commercial wires are enhanced by applying a repeated bending strain at room temperature, i.e., "prebending strain". In order to investigate the prebending effects from a viewpoint of a residual strain, axial and lateral residual strains were evaluated directly by neutron diffraction at room temperature. We found that the axial residual strain changes from -0.10% to 0.02 % but the lateral one is unchanged by applying a prebending strain of 0.5 % for an ordinary bronze route (Nb, Ti) ₃Sn wires without reinforcement. Hence, in the case of the ordinary Nb₃Sn wires without reinforcement, the prebending treatment modifies only the axial residual strain states independently to the lateral one, although it may depend on the wire structure. The critical current properties under the axial tensile strain suggest that the axial residual strain is reduced by about 0.11% but the radial residual strain unchanged by the prebending treatment of 0.5%. This is consistent with the results of the neutron diffraction.