Objective To explore the value of shear wave elastography (SWE) in the assessment of hepatic fibrosis in rat models of nonalcoholicai fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods SD rats were randomly divided into control group (40) and experimental group (44). Control group was fed a normal diet.Experimental group models with various stages of hepatic fibrosis were created and imaged using SWE. The explanted livers were subjected to histopathologic evaluation. Results There were significant positive correlations between Emean and hepatic fibrosis stages(r=0.838,P＜0.001) in all animals.Emean differed significantly according to fibrosis stage(F=25.5，P＜0.05).A significant difference in Emean were noted between every two fibrotic groups（P＜0.05 for all）, with the exception of the difference between F1 and F2 groups (P ＞0.05). For classifying fibrosis stage,corresponding optimal SWE cutoff values were 6.3,7.4,8.6 and 9.7 kPa,and the area under the ROC curve(AUC) were 0.87,0.89,0.93,0.98,with a sensitivity of 83.3%,93.3%,100%,100% and a specifificity of 85.5％,83.1%,91.3%,92.7%. Conclusion Shear wave elastography is a promising method for staging the degree of hepatic fibrosis with NAFLD.