LOW FORCE STRESS RELAXATION OF LIGAMENT

Editorial summary

This conference abstract investigates stress relaxation at low loads in the nonlinear toe region of connective tissue. Although the title refers to ligament, the methods describe six flexor tendon specimens harvested from sheep. Tensile displacement and 300-second relaxation measurements were performed in buffered saline at several small strain levels over repeated sequences. Peak loads changed with strain and sequence, illustrating the influence of loading history on the measured response. The work emphasizes low-load behavior and tissue ultrastructure rather than limiting characterization to failure properties. Its scope is a conference abstract, not a full journal article.