The finite element simulation of high-velocity dynamical processes involving fracture and
fragmentation is one of the most demanding problems in computational mechanics. Difficulties arise especially
when the nature of the problem requires a full three dimensional model. To simulate fracture, cohesive laws
have been widely used in combination with finite elements, either as boundary conditions, or by enriching the
set of shape functions of solid elements to include a displacement jump. An alternative successful approach
introduces cohesive surfaces along boundary surfaces of continuum elements, through an automatic procedure
combined with an explicit dynamic code. The presence of a characteristic time scale confers to cohesive models
combined with dynamics an intrinsic rate-dependence without the need of modeling explicitly viscosity
behaviors. Applications to experimental tests on brittle materials (dynamic Brazilian tests on cylinders in
ceramics), aluminum (dynamic expansion of rings), graphite-epoxy composite (mixed mode dynamic loading),
and the simulation of quasistatic fracture in biological fiber reinforced tissues (breaking of plaque on
atherosclerotic artery) demonstrate the versatility of the method, and attest its ability to reproduce the most
significant features of fracture processes.