was calculated by taking the ratio of the measured cohesive
strength to the estimated fluid shear stress. From the data in
this study, the biofilm FOS values ranged from 330 to 55,000.
The ability to compare biofilm FOS values with those from
other research groups is limited because there are few reports
on biofilm strength in the literature, and the tested biofilms
are not usually grown under defined shear conditions (thus
hindering the calculation of shear stress during growth).
However, our results are in agreement with a previous report
by Möhle et al (FOS = 200–1,100) who used fluid dynamic
gauging to determine biofilm cohesive strength.