  Computational solid mechanics has become an indispensable approach in
engineering, and numerical investigation of fracture in composites is essential
as composites are widely used in structural applications. Crack evolution in
composites is the bridge to elucidate the relationship between the
microstructure and fracture performance, but crack-based finite element methods
are computationally expensive and time-consuming, limiting their application in
computation-intensive scenarios. Here we propose a deep learning framework
called Crack-Net, which incorporates the relationship between crack evolution
and stress response to predict the fracture process in composites. Trained on a
high-precision fracture development dataset generated using the phase field
method, Crack-Net demonstrates a remarkable capability to accurately forecast
the long-term evolution of crack growth patterns and the stress-strain curve
for a given composite design. The Crack-Net captures the essential principle of
crack growth, which enables it to handle more complex microstructures such as
binary co-continuous structures. Moreover, transfer learning is adopted to
further improve the generalization ability of Crack-Net for composite materials
with reinforcements of different strengths. The proposed Crack-Net holds great
promise for practical applications in engineering and materials science, in
which accurate and efficient fracture prediction is crucial for optimizing
material performance and microstructural design.
