Crystallographic textures in rolled and annealed Fe-Ga and Fe-Al alloys

The feasibility of obtaining [001] preferred texture in polycrystalline Fe85Ga15 and Fe85Al15 magnetostrictive alloys containing 1 mol pct NbC using a low-cost conventional thermomechanical processing approach is shown in this work. Thermomechanical processing conditions examined consisted of a sequence of hot rolling, two-stage warm rolling at 400 degreesC with intermediate anneal at 900 degreesC and texture anneal in the temperature range of 900 degreesC to 1300 degreesC for time periods up to 24 hours. Textures present prior to and after texture annealing were characterized using orientation imaging microscopy in a scanning electron microscope. In the case of Fe85Ga15 alloy with 1 mol pct NbC, the deformation-induced texture after a two-stage warm rolling consists of mixed {100}<110> and {111}<110> type partial textures. Texture annealing of the Fe85Ga15 alloy with 1 mol pct NbC at 1150 degreesC for 2 hours changes the texture to a predominant texture that is close to {001}<100>. On increasing the annealing time to 24 hours, the texture shifts toward {110}<100>. While texture anneal at both 1150 degreesC and 1300 degreesC produces a [001] or near-[001] preferred orientation along the rolling direction in the Fe85Ga15 alloy with 1 mol pct NbC, 1150 degreesC-24 hour treatment was found to provide the strongest [001] orientation among the conditions examined. Similar trends are observed for the case of Fe85Al15 alloy with 1 mol pct NbC.