Figure 1.

Example for the suggested regions during the strain response of a naïve PDP clot. The minimum-strain compliance shown here (J'_M) reflects the tangent modulus at zero instantaneous stress, whereas the large-strain compliance (J'_L) reflects the secant modulus at maximum stress. During the linear viscoelastic behavior (LVE) the clot is in its equilibrium and the compliances merge and remain constant. With increasing stress the compliances start to diverge, which marks the elastic limit and the onset of the non-linear behavior. Now, the network elongates depending on its individual architecture. This period is characterized by progressive alignment of singular structures in the clot to establish a new architecture in which all structures are stretched out (here the microscopical changes in the clot take place). As soon as both compliances decrease together, the phase of shear-stiffening starts. The stretched network elongates as a whole and stiffens when the loads increase. When the stress becomes too high, the clot breaks either abruptly or yields. Yielding includes breaking of branch points or singular fibers in the network.