## 1 Introduction
Usually, fiber-reinforced concrete is modeled as one material, for example, in [13], where a finite element analysis was used to simulate uniaxial tensile tests and four-point bending tests of fiber-reinforced concrete samples, or in [14], where the suitability of constitutive models of concrete for polyolefin fiber-reinforced concrete was evaluated by finite element numerical simulations of three-point bending tests. A different approach is the discrete modeling of randomly distributed and oriented fibers inside a concrete body, for example, in [15], where tensile and bending tests were simulated. As explained in [16], two primary modeling approaches can be discerned for conducting fracture analysis, which also covers the analysis of fiber-reinforced concrete elements. The two approaches are the discrete crack model and the smeared crack model. While the discrete crack model depicts cracks discretely and targets to simulate the initiation and propagation of predominant cracks, the smeared crack model captures the degradation process using a constitutive relation, thereby spreading the cracks across the continuum, which is a significant simplification of the problem in terms of required solver complexity. Moreover, an important factor for choosing the finite element modeling approach is the number of required input parameters and the complexity of determining the input parameters. The predominant focus in current research addressing the load-displacement behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete revolves around steel fibers. After all, the guidelines and expressions for fiber-reinforced concrete outlined in the _fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010_[17] primarily derive from experiences with steel fiber-reinforced concrete. This article, therefore, addresses the load-displacement behavior of polymer fiber-reinforced concrete, providing a focused examination distinct from the prevalent emphasis on steel fibers in the existing literature. The content of this article stems from an attempt to determine the mechanical properties of a certain polymer fiber-reinforced concrete mixture, which was experimentally tested with standardized compressive tests on cubic samples and with standardized three-point bending tests on notched prisms. Two computational procedures were employed to assess the experimental results and to determine the mechanical properties. The first computational procedure was a nonlinear semi-numeric analysis, which included the calculation of the moment-curvature relation for multiple cross-sections of the notched prisms by the bisection method and the displacement calculation at the prism midspan by the virtual work method, where a plastic hinge mechanism captured the cracked region behavior. The second computational procedure was a nonlinear finite element analysis that employed the Menetrey-Willam material model to simulate the behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete. The load-displacement results from the nonlinear semi-numeric analysis and the nonlinear finite element analysis were analyzed and compared with the experimental load-displacement results. The applicability and limitations of the employed computational procedures based on the material model for fiber-reinforced concrete of the _fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010_[17] (used for the semi-numeric calculation) and of the Menetrey-Willam material model [18] (used for the finite element analysis) were addressed to ensure a comprehensive understanding of their effectiveness in simulating the behavior of polymer fiber-reinforced concrete.