Theory-based benchmarking of the blended force-based quasicontinuum method

•Development of a force-based blended atomistic-to-continuum coupling method.•Theoretical optimization of the blending function and mesh refinement.•Numerical experiments that validate the predictions for lattice stability and strain.•Numerical demonstration of the superior accuracy of the blended force-based method.

We formulate an atomistic-to-continuum coupling method based on blending atomistic and continuum forces. Our precise choice of blending mechanism is informed by theoretical predictions. We present a range of numerical experiments studying the accuracy of the scheme, focusing in particular on its stability. These experiments confirm and extend the theoretical predictions, and demonstrate a superior accuracy of B-QCF over energy-based blending schemes.