Microstructure and magnetostriction of heavily groove-rolled Fe-Co alloy wires

•Average grain size decreased with reducing diameter of the Fe-Co alloys by groove-rolling.•A sharp 〈101〉 texture was formed in a rolling direction in the Fe-Co alloys by groove-rolling.•Magnetostriction increased with reducing diameter of the Fe-Co alloys by groove-rolling.•Magnetostriction reached 115.8 ppm at maximum by the formation of a sharp texture in the Fe-Co alloy.•Magnetization was around 210 emu∙g−1 and was almost unchanged even after heavy groove-rolling. In this work, an Fe30Co70 alloy rod was heavily groove-rolled to observe the resulting changes in its microstructure. Then the magnetization and magnetostriction were measured in the rolling direction, and the relationships between the microstructure and the mechanical and magnetic properties such as Vickers hardness, magnetization and magnetostriction were studied. The results showed that the Vickers hardness increased with decreasing diameter of the specimen and that the average grain size decreased with decreasing diameter of the specimens and a sharp 〈101〉 texture was formed in the rolling direction after groove-rolling. The saturation magnetostriction in the rolling direction increased with decreasing diameter of the specimens and reached 115.8 ppm at maximum in the specimen of 2 mm in diameter. This was attributed to the formation of a sharp 〈101〉 texture along the rolling direction. In contrast, the saturation magnetization was around 210 emu∙g−1 and remained almost constant, even after heavy groove-rolling.