A simple numerical scheme suitable for tracing the fracture propagation pat
h for structures idealized by means of Hillerborg's classical cohesive crac
k model is presented. A direct collocation, multidomain boundary element me
thod is adopted for the required space discretization. The algorithm propos
ed is necessarily iterative in nature since the crack itinerary is a priori
unknown. The fracture process is assumed to be governed by a path-dependen
t generally nonlinear softening law. The potentialities of the method are i
llustrated through two examples.