Molecular dynamics simulations were made of edge dislocations in the body-centered cubic metal. Dislocations with a ½<111> Burgers vector, and gliding on the (110) plane, were treated by using the Finnis-Sinclair n-body empirical potential and periodic boundary conditions. The profile of the dislocation line, as deduced from atomic displacements during molecular dynamics simulations, suggested that double-kink nucleation predominated, with no appreciable kink migration. This observation was consistent with other simulations, in which dislocations with pre-existing kinks were observed to move at the same velocity as initially straight dislocations. The results revealed a linear stress dependence of the dislocation velocity, and a decrease in mobility with increasing temperature. Both features were interpreted as indicating that the simulations applied to the viscous phonon drag regime of dislocation mobility.

Dislocation Motion in BCC Metals by Molecular Dynamics. J.Chang, W.Cai, V.V.Bulatov, S.Yip: Materials Science and Engineering A, 2001, 309-310, 160-3