Experimental results on the thermal expansion and magnetostriction of YFe12xVx (1.5rxr3.5) alloys are reported. The results show that the anisotropic magnetostriction (Dl) at a finite field (1.5 T) increases with increasing vanadium content in the range of xo2. But for x42, a decrease in the magnetic anisotropy with increasing vanadium content causes a decrease in the saturation values ofDl. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient becomes a minimum for xE2. Experimental curves exhibit that the forced volume magnetostriction (DV/V) is positive and increases linearly with the applied field at high fields. But in the low field region (r0.5 T), a minimum appears in the isothermal curves of DV/V around the saturation field. The results are explained by considering the influence of vanadium content on the magnetization anisotropy of YFe12xVx compounds.

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