A method is described for calculating the energetics of planar defects in alloys based on the special-quasirandom-structure (SQS) approach. We examine the accuracy of the approach employing atomistic calculations based on a classical embedded-atom-method (EAM) interatomic potential for hexagonal close packed (hcp) alloys, for which benchmark results can be obtained by direct configurational averaging. The results of these calculations demonstrate that the SQS-based approach can be employed to derive the concentration dependence of the energies of twin boundaries, unstable stacking faults, and surfaces to within an accuracy of approximately 10%. The SQS considered in this study contain up to 72 atoms and hence are small enough to be considered in first-principles density-functional-theory (DFT) based calculations. The application of the SQS-based approach in direct DFT-based calculations is demonstrated in a study of the concentration dependence of interfacial energies for $\left\{11\overline{2}1\right\}$ twins in hcp Ti-Al alloys.

• Received 18 November 2015
• Revised 19 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.094101