Design of fiber-reinforced composite of minimum material consumption at guaranteed reliability and durability requires consideration of cases when cracks may appear in the binder. To know the limit bending loads at which cracks will occur in the binder, it is necessary to carry out the limit analysis of the composite. Proposed design model takes into account the presence of damages (zones of weakened inter-particle bonds of the material) in the fiber composite. Based on this design model a calculation method has been developed for composite parameters at which cracks appear. A thin plate of elastic isotropic medium (matrix) and inclusions (fibers) of another elastic material distributed in the matrix is considered. The plate is bending. It is assumed that at the loading of composite, the cracks initiation and fracture of the composite occur. A closed system of nonlinear algebraic equations is constructed. Solution of the obtained system allows to predict the cracking in composite under bending, depending on geometric and mechanical characteristics of the binder and fiber. A criterion of the cracks nucleation in the composite under the action of bending loads is formulated. Size of limit minimal zones of weakened inter-particle bonds of the material at which the cracks nucleation occurs is recommended to be considered as a design characteristic of the binder material.