The role of harmonic functions in dislocation–boundary interactions by the method of images

We present a theoretical basis for the link between the harmonic functions and the method of images, which was effectively used in Headʹs analysis [A.K. Head, Proc. Phys. Soc. London Ser. B 66 (1953) 793–801] of dislocation–boundary interaction. We also report the solution of the displacement field of an edge dislocation near a plane surface, and illustrate the profiles of its boundary displacements.