Influence of annealing process on texture evolution and magnetostriction in rolled Fe–Ga based alloys

Abstract

The influence of annealing process, including heating rate and final annealing atmosphere, on texture evolution and magnetostrictive performance of rolled 0.16wt% NbC doped Fe–Ga sheets has been investigated. It demonstrates that texture evolution is closely related with heating rate, and strong Goss texture {110}〈001〉 was obtained at 0.25°C/min after the heating process from 900°C to 1080°C, accompanied with a peak value of saturation magnetostriction. Non-Goss texture and deviation from ideal {110}〈001〉 were observed at lower or higher heating rate, resulting in the decrease in saturation magnetostriction. Compared with pure-Ar annealed sheets, the hydrogen introduced into annealing atmosphere during final treatment promoted (110) grain growth and eliminated the Nb-rich precipitates, and additional improvement in the saturation magnetostriction was observed for the same annealing protocols, with a maximum measured value, (3/2)λs=λ//−λ⊥, of 233×10−6 obtained in the final Ar/H2 annealed sheet.