Diffusion of hydrogen in the Volterra elastic fields around dislocations in α-Ti: Coupling DFT calculations and elasticity method

Hydrogen around dislocation has a great influence on the mechanical properties of Titanium (Ti) alloys. In this study, the diffusion of hydrogen around dislocations in α-Ti alloys is investigated by coupling density functional theory (DFT) calculations and the elasticity method. Initially, the attempt frequency and hopping activation energy of hydrogen atom in the α-Ti lattice are calculated using the DFT method under various simple strain fields, including volume strain, biaxial strain, and shear strains, within a strain range of −2%–2 %. It is observed that both volume strain and biaxial strain have the most pronounced effects on the hopping activation energy of hydrogen atom, while the attempt frequency remains relatively unaffected across different strain conditions. Subsequently, the hopping activation energy in the elastic strain field has been parameterized using an elasticity method based on elastic dipole and diaelastic polarizability. Using the elasticity method, an analysis is conducted on the effective activation energy of hydrogen atoms and their hopping tendencies in the Volterra elastic strain fields around the perfect edge and screw dislocations. The elastic strain field around screw dislocation enhances the diffusion of hydrogen atoms and simultaneously promotes their migration toward the dislocation core. In the vicinity of edge dislocation, the tensile elastic strain field enhances the diffusion of hydrogen atoms and facilitates their migration toward the dislocation core. Conversely, the compressive strain field retards the diffusion of hydrogen atoms and promotes their migration away from the dislocation core or towards regions with tensile strain.