Prediction of Glass Elasticity from Free Energy Density of Topological Constraints

Abstract: Despite the critical importance of the elastic properties of modern materials, there is not a singular model that can predict the modulus to an accuracy needed for industrial glass design. To address this problem, we propose an approach to calculate the elastic modulus based on the free energy density of topological constraints in the glass-forming network. Our approach shows quantitatively accurate agreement with glasses across a variety of compositional families. Moreover, using temperature-dependent constraint theory, the temperature dependence of the modulus can also be predicted. Our approach is general and theoretically can be applied to any network glass.