Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Computer simulation of the atomic structure and movement of twinning dislocations in four twin boundaries in the h.c.p. metal α-Ti is described. These dislocations have the form of steps on the twin boundary, and whereas some have cores which are very widely spread over the interface, others are only an interatomic spacing or so across. These configurations are determined mainly by whether or not atomic shuffles are required to restore the h.c.p. crystal structure when the dislocation is introduced. The mobility of the dislocations is also controlled by the same effect, and is found to correlate well with experiment.