This Note presents criteria on the artificial compliance due to intrinsic cohesive zone models. A homogenized model is proposed for a collection of cohesive zones embedded between each mesh of a finite element-type discretization (cohesive-volumetric approach). The overall elastic behavior of this cohesive-volumetric medium is obtained as a function of the local properties and the mesh size. For an isotropic discretization, a criterion on the cohesive stiffnesses is derived: the additional compliance inherent to intrinsic cohesive zone models is bounded by lower value.
