The effects on dislocation glide of the substitutional element Cu in solution in α-Fe were being investigated by computer simulation. In the first phase, the critical stress for a ½<111>{110} edge dislocation to overcome configurations of either a single or two nearest-neighbour solute atoms was simulated. Molecular statics and dynamics methods were used to simulate effects at temperatures equal to and greater than 0K, respectively. Single Cu atoms and nearest-neighbour pairs in the first atomic plane below the glide plane give the strongest barrier to dislocation glide, in partial agreement with elasticity theory. In addition to temperature, obstacle-spacing effects were considered.

Simulation of Dislocation Glide in Dilute Fe–Cu Alloys. K.Tapasa, D.J.Bacon, Y.N.Osetsky: Materials Science and Engineering A, 2005, 400-401, 109-13