When h needs to be adjusted, the softening stress strain relation is adjusted so as to maintain the correct energy dissipation G f . A more versatile method is the nonlocal damage model in which the stress at a continuum point is a function not of the strain at that point but of the average of the strain field within a certain neighborhood of size h centered at that point. Still another method is the gradient damage model in which the stress depends not only on the strain at that point but also on the gradient of strain. All these computational methods can ensure objectivity and proper convergence with respect to the refinement of the finite element mesh.