The kink-pair nucleation in edge dislocation motion

The motion of edge dislocations (EDs) and kinked EDs in body-centered cubic Fe are studied at atom level. We find the kink-pair nucleation mechanism directly from the atom configuration evolution of dislocation, the EDs move primarily by the kink-pair nucleation, and the pre-existing kink does not affect this motion mode. The result is in agreement with the energy calculation. Furthermore, the Peierls stress, dislocation velocity, and phonon-drag coefficient are discussed. There are obviously two motion regions with different stresses. In the low-stress region, the stress exercises a great influence on the dislocation motion, the dislocation velocity increase significantly with the increase of stress. In the high-stress region, however, phonon drag practice a dominant factor on the dislocation motion, the dislocation move with approximately constant speed close to the transverse speed of sound.

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