where 𝑟 is the separation distance between beads, 𝑘 J = 30𝜀/𝜎 ! is the spring constant, 𝜀 is the characteristic energy parameter, and 𝑟 ' = 1.5𝜎 is the maximum possible spring length. The WCA potential, a short-range purely repulsive potential that models excluded-volume interactions between the bonded segments, can be conveniently cast in the form of a cut-and-shifted Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential: