A peridynamics-based cohesive zone model (PD-CZM) for predicting cohesive crack propagation

•A peridynamics-based cohesive zone model (PD-CZM) is proposed to predict quasi-brittle failure.•A precise and objective damage model is established in the PD-CZM based on energy equivalence.•The PD-CZM can approximately produce the same results as the conventional CZM for mode-I failure.•Crack propagation is spontaneously predicted, and the result is not sensitive to the grid size.