A theoretical model was proposed which described the energetic characteristics and behavior of edge dislocations in coarse-grained and nanostructured quasi-crystals. A key point of the model was the representation of dislocation-induced phason imperfections as centers of isotropic dilatation (so-called flexes). Especial attention was paid here to the effect of the nanoscale structure upon the energetic characteristics and behavior of edge dislocations in nanostructured quasi-crystals (so-called nano-quasicrystalline materials). It was shown that the basic grain-size sensitive contribution of dislocation-induced phason imperfections to the total energy of an edge dislocation varied directly with the grain size. As a result, the formation of edge dislocations was not suppressed in nano-quasicrystalline materials; in contrast to the case of coarse-grained quasicrystalline materials.

Edge Dislocations in Nano-Quasicrystalline Materials. M.Y.Gutkin, I.A.Ovidko: Nanostructured Materials, 1998, 10[3], 493-501