New publication in Engineering Fracture Mechanics

We are excited to share that our article “The Capriccio method as a versatile tool for quantifying the fracture properties of glassy materials under complex loading conditions with chemical specificity” authored by Felix Weber, Maxime Vassaux, Lukas Laubert, and Sebastian Pfaller is now available in Engineering Fracture Mechanics (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2026.111841). In this work, we use the Capriccio method to perform chemically specific fracture simulations of a molecular dynamics (MD) domain representing silica glass while using the finite element method (FEM) to apply boundary conditions that mimic experimental setups. We perform simulations of mode I, mode II, and mode III on a single edge crack in a rectangular panel, as well as additional three- and four-point bending tests in the case of mode I. By calculating the applied stress intensity factor based on the sample geometries used and determining the onset of crack propagation considering the virial stress, we find good agreement between the critical stress intensity factor obtained in the simulations and experimental values. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the requirements of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) on specimen size are met by determining the size of the plastic zone developing at the crack tip based on various strain measures. In conclusion, the Capriccio approach is capable of realistically predicting fracture mechanical quantities. By applying MD only in the vicinity of the crack tip, important insights into the microscopic fracture behavior can be gained, while modeling the largest part of the sample with the FEM promises a significant reduction in computational effort.