Viscoelastic properties of plant cell walls—III. Hysteresis loop in the stress-strain curve at constant strain rate

Abstract

When the cell wall of pea epidermis is extended and returned at a fixed rate, the stress-strain curves form a hysteresis loop. The mechanical properties of the pea epidermal cell wall in a constant rate experiment can be simulated by a model consisting of an infinite number of Maxwell elements and a single spring in parallel with them, as in stress relaxation experiments. The mathematical formulation for a constant rate experiment is closely related to that for a stress relaxation experiment through its constant parameters.

In a constant rate experiment, auxin pretreatment increases strain at a small stress. The effect of auxin on the stress-strain curve in the constant rate experiment is qualitatively and quantitatively reproduced well by the constant parameters representing the effect of auxin on the stress-time curve in the stress relaxation experiment.