The structure of dislocation cores in elastically anisotropic materials was considered. A definition of the dislocation core radius was introduced and used to demonstrate that the elastic anisotropy that develops near a composition driven phase transition, such as that predicted for the Ti-Nb based so-called gum metals, could drive dislocation core radii to infinity. Under these circumstances, dislocation cores necessarily overlap. The atomic scale structures predicted to arise from core overlap in Ti-V alloys were reminiscent of nano-disturbances observed in gum metals.

Spreading of Dislocation Cores in Elastically Anisotropic Body-Centered-Cubic Materials: the Case of Gum Metal. D.C.Chrzan, M.P.Sherburne, Y.Hanlumyuang, T.Li, J.W.Morris: Physical Review B, 2010, 82[18], 184202