  Geometric frustration offers a pathway to soft matter self-assembly with
controllable finite sizes. While the understanding of frustration in soft
matter assembly derives almost exclusively from continuum elastic descriptions,
a current challenge is to understand the connection between microscopic
physical properties of misfitting ``building blocks" and emergent assembly
behavior at mesoscale. We present and analyze a particle-based description of
what is arguably the best studied example for frustrated soft matter assembly,
negative-curvature ribbon assembly, observed in both assemblies of chiral
surfactants and shape-frustrated nanoparticles. Based on our particle model,
known as {\it saddle wedge monomers}, we numerically test the connection
between microscopic shape and interactions of the misfitting subunits and the
emergent behavior at the supra-particle scale, specifically focusing on the
propagation and relaxation of inter-particle strains, the emergent role of
extrinsic shape on frustrated ribbons and the equilibrium regime of finite
width selection. Beyond the intuitive role of shape misfit, we show that
self-limitation is critically dependent on the finite range of cohesive
interactions, with larger size finite assemblies requiring increasing
short-range interparticle forces. Additionally, we demonstrate that
non-linearities arising from discrete particle interactions alter self-limiting
behavior due to both strain-softening in shape-flattened assembly and partial
yielding of highly strained bonds, which in turn may give rise to states of
hierarchical, multidomain assembly. Tracing the regimes of frustration-limited
assembly to the specific microscopic features of misfitting particle shapes and
interactions provides necessary guidance for translating the theory of
size-programmable assembly into design of intentionally-frustrated colloidal
particles.
