Mechanical Behavior and Properties of Adipose Tissue - The Mechanobiology of Obesity and Related Diseases - page 6

Fig. 3 Repetition of time sweeps. A sample is loaded again after 3 and 6 h of rest to demonstrate
the reversible behavior (with permission, Geerligs et al. [ 4 ])
Fig. 4 Average results from constant shear rate experiment with increasing strain amplitude.
a Applied shear strain with reproducible strain rate; b the three different phases of the stress-
strain response (with permission, Geerligs et al. [ 4 ])
increases or decreases. In the human body blood and synovial fluid are known to
be thixotropic [ 12 ].
It is not clear if the structural change at high strains is similar or some how
related to the structural change after long periods of harmonic loading. The only
thing we know is that both observed changes are reversible. The results can be
used to build non-linear visco-elastic models for fat, but that is beyond the scope of
this chapter.