Recent studies of transition metal alloys with compositions that place them near their limits of elastic stability [e.g., near the body-centered-cubic (BCC) to hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) transition] suggest interesting behavior for the dislocation cores. Specifically, the dislocation core size is predicted to diverge as the stability limit is approached. Here a simple analysis rooted in elasticity theory and the computation of ideal strength is used to analyze this divergence. This analysis indicates that dislocation core radii should diverge as the elastic limits of stability are approached in the BCC, HCP, and face-centered-cubic (FCC) structures. Moreover, external stresses and dislocation-induced stresses also increase the core radii. Density functional theory based total-energy calculations are combined with anisotropic elasticity theory to compute numerical estimates of dislocation core radii.

• Received 28 January 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.87.134106