Motion mechanism of the edge dislocation slipping in the cubic plane of Ni3Al single crystals

The motion mechanism of the edge dislocation slipping in the cubic plane of Ni3Al under an applied shear stress at different temperatures is studied. At lower temperatures, the edge dislocation moves forward smoothly, and no dislocation lock is formed. At higher temperatures, the motion mechanism of the edge dislocation is controlled by the complex Lomer-Cottrell lock mechanism. Sometimes, the complex Lomer-Cottrell lock tends to transform into a full Lomer-Cottrell lock. The energy barriers of these transformation processes are calculated, and the underlying reason for these transformation processes can be understood in terms of the energy barriers and the applied shear stress. This work gives a good explanation of the in situ observation of the edge dislocation slipping in the cube planes of Ni3Al.