The basic characteristic of electric field is that the substance in the field is in operation by the stress.Under external electric fields,there is strong distribution of electric fields on the inside and outside surfaces of cell membrane.In virtue of the difference of the permittivity among membrane,cytoplasm and extracellular medium,there must he electric field stress on the surface of the membrane.The goal of the study is to research the irreversible electrical breakdown (IRE) mechanism of the malignant tumor cells under steep pulsed electric field (SPEF)from the views of mechanics.Electric field stress of plasma membrane under steep pulsed electric field is calculated and simulated both on malignant tumor cells and on the normal cells.The calculation results show that,in addition to a compressive stress normal to the membrane plane,transverse traction stresses are generated in the lateral plane of the membrane.The lateral stress will reduce the membrane tension significantly,leading to electroporation and rupture.At the same electric field strength,the transverse traction stress on malignant cell membrane is greatly larger than the one on normal cell membrane.Therefore,compared with the normal cells,the malignant tumor cells are more sensitive under the steep pulsed electric field.Namely,steep pulsed electric field can selectively destroy the malignant tumor cells,which proved the safety of treating malignant tumors by steep pulsed electric field.