Computer simulation of low-energy displacement events in pure HCP metals

Molecular dynamics simulations of low-energy atomic recoils have been carried out for α-Ti (HCP) with a view to investigating the displacement threshold energy, Ed, in detail. These have been undertaken at 0 K and 100 K, using a many-body interatomic potential modified to reflect the dominant two-body interaction at short range. This is the first systematic study of atomic displacement events in the HCP structure using such a potential. The mechanisms of these threshold events have been investigated and the strong orientation dependence of the threshold energy has been interpreted in terms of the HCP crystal structure. Also, a correlation has been found between the magnitude of the threshold displacement energy and the maximum number of atoms temporarily displaced into interstitial positions during a cascade.