Figure 3. Comparison of fibers with initially unfolded domains.

Fibers were simulated in two configurations, equal loading (A) and disparate loading (D), with either no domains initially unfolded (orange), 4 domains per molecule initially unfolded (purple) or 8 domains per molecule initially unfolded (black) for both the equally loaded fibers (B,C) and the disparate loaded fibers (E,F). Changes in the fiber Force (B, E) and Stress (C, F) were predominantly in the low strain region (<200% strain) where increasing the number of unfolded domains reduced the initial stiffness of the fiber.