Core properties of dislocations in YCu and YAg B2 intermetallic compounds

In this study, the dissociation and core properties of dislocations with the Burgers vectors [111] and [100] in YCu and YAg B2 rare-earth intermetallic compounds were investigated by utilizing the generalized Peierls–Nabarro model. The results are compared with those seen for the common B2 intermetallic alloy NiAl. The results indicate that the dislocations with the Burgers vector [111] in the three intermetallics exhibit similar dissociation characteristics and the core sizes. On the other hand, owing to the lower stacking fault energy along the [100] direction in YAg and YCu, the dislocations with the Burgers vector [100] show a different dissociation in comparison to those seen in NiAl, indicating an easier activation of the [100] slip modes in YCu and YAg.