FIG. 5.

Investigation of a SF segment as it is contracting against a spring of normalized stiffness K* = K/k for different values of normalized bond catchiness (α^⋆ = 0, 0.5, and 1). Top figures: time evolution of (a) η and (b) shortening velocity ${\upsilon }_s^{\ast }={\upsilon }_s/{\upsilon }_s^0$ for a spring stiffness K* = K/k = 0.5. Bottom figures: (c) Relationship between the external stiffness K* = K/k and the contractile force F^⋆ = F/ζ applied by the control segment at steady state for different values of bond catchiness α^⋆. The relationship between maximum contractile force $F_{\text{max}}^{\star }$ and bond catchiness is shown in (d).