Abstract
In this study the non-linear finite element method is used to analyse the effect of presence of microcavity near a crack tip on the variation of the shape and the size of the plastic zone ahead of the crack tip in the case of confined plasticity. The FE Code Franc2D/L is used to carry out this objective. The effect of the interdistance crack tip-microcavity on the plastic zone size is highlighted. The obtained results show that the presence of the microcavity affects in very significant way the shape and the size of the crack plastic zone. The relative distance between the crack tip and the microcavity has a very important effect on the size of the confined plastic zone. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.