Figure 2.

Representative rheological data of a S. aureus 6ME biofilm.
A. Creep and recovery. The five characteristic regions of the strain (γ) versus time curve of a viscoelastic material are shown: (I) instantaneous elastic strain, (II) delayed deformation, (III) steady‐state viscous response, (IV) instantaneous elastic recovery and (V) residual strain.
B. Creep compliance curves at different τ₀ values. Up to shear stresses of 2 Pa (□, 0.5 Pa; Δ, 1.0 Pa; ◊, 2.0 Pa), the curves overlap (linear response to shear); for 3 Pa (×) there is a drastic increase of the creep compliance (yield stress exceeded).
C. Dynamic tests in the linear viscoelastic range (LVR) (×, storage modulus G′; Δ, loss modulus G″; ○, dynamic viscosity).
D. Oscillation‐frequency‐sweep test at 3.0 Pa.