Elastic properties of single elastic fibers

Abstract

The elastic properties of elastic tissue were studied in a situation which minimized the effects of extraneous connective tissue and of the position of fibers in the elastic network. Single elastic fibers were dissected free from the ligamentum nuchae of the ox and were stretched under conditions of constant temperature and salinity. The strain was an exponential function of the applied tension. Single fibers were found somewhat less stretchable than the ligaments from which they were taken. The data given can be used to calculate the contribution of such elastic fibers to the behavior of an elastic system in which they are incorporated. Submitted on August 7, 1961