Predicting the Macroscopic Fracture Energy of Epoxy Resins from Atomistic Molecular Simulations

Predicting the macroscopic fracture energy of highly cross-linked glassy polymers from atomistic simulations is challenging due to the size of the process zone being large in these systems. Here, we present a scale-bridging approach that links atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to macroscopic fracture properties on the basis of a continuum fracture mechanics model for two different epoxy materials. Our approach reveals that the fracture...