Lattice vibrational properties of transition metal carbides (TiC, ZrC and HfC) have been presented by including the effects of free-carrier doping and three-body interactions in the rigid shell model. The short-range overlap repulsion is operative up to the second neighbour ions. An excellent agreement has been obtained between theory and experiment for their phonon dispersion curves and Debye temperature variations. It is concluded that the contributions of free-carrier doping and three-body interactions are essential for the description of the lattice dynamics of these carbides.
