The present work deals with the study and the improvement of regularized (non local) damage models. It aims to study the transition from a continuous damage field distributed on a structure to a discontinuous macroscopic failure model.First, an analytical one-dimensional study is carried out (on a bar submitted to tensile loading) in order to identify a set of interface laws that enable to switch from an inhomogeneous solution obtained with a continuous gradient damage model to a cohesive zone model. This continuous / discontinuous transition is constructed so that the energetic equivalence between both models remains ensured whatever the damage level reached when switching.This strategy is then extended to the bi-dimensional (and tri-dimensional) case of rectilinear (and plane) crack propagation under mode I loading conditions, in a finite element framework. An explicit approach based on a critical damage criterion that allows coupling both continuous and discontinuous approaches is then proposed. Finally, results of several simulations led with this coupled approach are presented.
