Formation of Dislocations and Twins As a Result of Uniaxial Compression of Magnesium Single Crystals: Molecular Dynamics Simulation

An atomistic simulation of the deformation of ideal magnesium crystal along the \([11\bar 20]\) crystallographic axis has been performed. The evolution of structural defects under load at T = 300–350 K is considered in detail. It is established that the nucleation of dislocations in an ideal crystal occurs when the stress reaches a level of 0.1G (G is the shear modulus). The acting deformation modes are found to be prismatic slip of a dislocations and \(\{ 10\bar 13\} \) twinning. The formation of dislocation networks and dislocation sites in the twinning plane is observed. Some reactions are proposed to describe the dislocation evolution in the \((\bar 3034)\) plane.