Interaction between dislocation loop and [formula omitted] twin boundary in magnesium

Abstract

In this work, molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate the interaction between a {101¯2} twin boundary (TB) and irradiation-induced <c> dislocation loops in magnesium at room temperature. According to the geometry of the Burgers vectors with respect to TB, three sets of partial Burgers vectors can be identified, i.e. 1/6[202¯3]+1/6[2¯023], 1/6[22¯03]+1/6[2¯203] and 1/2[0001]+1/2[0001], which cover all the possible interaction styles between <c> dislocation loop and TB. The simulation results show that, although the partial Burgers vectors are different, the TB is able to always transform all the dislocation loops into glissile <a> dislocation loops in the twin. Therefore, an elimination mechanism of the irradiation-induced defects can be proposed in magnesium, i.e. by interaction with TB. The current work provides new insights into understanding the irradiation effects in magnesium and other hexagonal close-packed metals.