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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Acta Biomater. 2018 Mar 21;72:295–305. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2018.03.026

Figure 1. Idealized plots of force vs stretch differ for a fiber bundle versus multiple fiber bundles.

Figure 1

A fiber bundle is easy to stretch when it is crimped or wavy, however after the bundle is straight or recruited, the bundle becomes much stiffer, requiring more force to elongate the bundle. (left) When many crimped fiber bundles with different amounts of slack are stretched together, the gradual straightening of the fibers creates a gradual, nonlinear stiffening, where more and more force is required to continue stretching the tissue. (right) A fiber that is straightened is referred to as recruited. Conversely, a fiber that is not recruited, but would at higher stretch, is referred to as reserved. The proportion of fibers recruited to those in reserve is directly related to the rate of recruitment. Adapted from Jan et al 2017.[5]