Atomistic Simulation of Pipe Diffusion in AlCu Alloys

Activation energies for solute diffusion along dislocations are difficult to measure experimentally. The aim of this work is to provide insight into pipe diffusion with the help of atomistic simulations. The distribution of vacancy formation energy and the activation energy for copper migration are determined in the core of an edge dislocation in aluminum. The Dimer method is used to find activation energies for vacancy migration. The activated region around the dislocation where a very high diffusivity is observed and the activation energy for copper diffusion associated with this region are interpreted with regard to the contribution of the dislocation and the contribution of the alloying.