General Theoretical Framework Linking Macroscopic Stress to Microscopic Strand Conformations in Unentangled Elastomers.

Understanding the mechanical response of elastomers requires establishing a direct connection between macroscopic stress and the microscopic conformational statistics of network strands. In this Letter, we develop a unified theoretical framework that quantitatively links macroscopic stress to single-chain mechanics and the conformational statistics of network strands in unentangled elastomers. The framework is validated by extensive molecular dynamics simulations of unentangled elastomers subjected to multiple loading modes, including uniaxial compression, equibiaxial tension, pure shear, and simple shear.