What's Inside the Box? – Length‐Scales that Govern Fracture Processes of Polymer Fibers

This work shows that multiple length-scales must be considered concurrently to explain a polymer fiber's impressive mechanical performance and resilience. The considerations of interatomic interactions alone cannot explain the fracture strength observed in biological fibers. Instead, the fracture strength of a fiber depends strongly on the length-scale of observation, including a fiber's sensitivity with respect to cracks and other flaws.