Based on the smeared cracking theory

a brittle fracture model for tensile state of compacted cohesive soil is proposed. When tensile strength is reached

cracks are smeared into solid elements by constructing anisotropic stiffness matrix. The finite element method for brittle fracture in compacted cohesive soil is built under the plane strain condition. By simulating of the process of uniaxial tensile tests on a certain cohesive soil

the applicability of the brittle fracture model and the corresponding calculation method for tensile failure and crack development is verified. More over

simple numerical tests to simulate the “wedging action” of water pressure in weak link are carried out; and the results show that the model and the method can simulate well the behavior of crack development.