<p>One of the most important characteristics of peridynamics is its capability of predicting how cracks initiate and propagate in materials and structures. Definition of failure in peridynamics is different than classical approaches due to non-local feature of peridynamics. In this study, a new failure criterion, named as bond specific energy-based failure criterion, is introduced. Moreover, an in-depth investigation of different failure criteria used in peridynamic framework is presented. Three different failure criteria are considered including the widely used critical stretch failure criterion, critical energy failure criterion, and the newly introduced bond specific energy-based failure criterion. Numerical results demonstrated that new bond specific energy-based failure criterion shows better performance in capturing expected bond breakage with respect to other approaches. In addition, it can also accurately predict failure load for different crack lengths during crack propagation.</p>