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Main Authors: He, Hongrui, Lyu, Hao, Si, Xueting
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24987
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author He, Hongrui
Lyu, Hao
Si, Xueting
author_facet He, Hongrui
Lyu, Hao
Si, Xueting
contents Grain boundary migration governs microstructural evolution in crystalline materials, directly influencing mechanical properties such as strength and thermal stability. Disconnections, which are line defects formed at grain boundaries in response to local curvature, have been identified as critical carriers of boundary migration. Here, we investigate the glide of unfaulted disconnections (UFDs) on a coherent twin boundary in aluminum at elevated temperatures using molecular dynamics simulations combined with the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method. Our results reveal a striking bifurcation in migration behavior depending on the disconnection core structure. UFDs with a pure edge Burgers vector migrate via a thermally activated double-kink mechanism, exhibiting a migration velocity that increases monotonically with temperature. In contrast, UFDs containing a screw dipole component possess an energy barrier approximately eight times lower, and their core structure undergoes a continuous transformation during glide, giving rise to stochastic, bidirectional motion with no systematic temperature dependence. These findings demonstrate that the disconnection core structure fundamentally dictates the migration mode and kinetics of twin boundaries, offering new mechanistic insights into disconnection-mediated grain boundary migration.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_24987
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dual migration modes of unfaulted disconnections on curved twin boundaries
He, Hongrui
Lyu, Hao
Si, Xueting
Materials Science
Grain boundary migration governs microstructural evolution in crystalline materials, directly influencing mechanical properties such as strength and thermal stability. Disconnections, which are line defects formed at grain boundaries in response to local curvature, have been identified as critical carriers of boundary migration. Here, we investigate the glide of unfaulted disconnections (UFDs) on a coherent twin boundary in aluminum at elevated temperatures using molecular dynamics simulations combined with the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method. Our results reveal a striking bifurcation in migration behavior depending on the disconnection core structure. UFDs with a pure edge Burgers vector migrate via a thermally activated double-kink mechanism, exhibiting a migration velocity that increases monotonically with temperature. In contrast, UFDs containing a screw dipole component possess an energy barrier approximately eight times lower, and their core structure undergoes a continuous transformation during glide, giving rise to stochastic, bidirectional motion with no systematic temperature dependence. These findings demonstrate that the disconnection core structure fundamentally dictates the migration mode and kinetics of twin boundaries, offering new mechanistic insights into disconnection-mediated grain boundary migration.
title Dual migration modes of unfaulted disconnections on curved twin boundaries
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24987