This thesis focuses on understanding the failure mechanism of fiber glass reinforced laminates loaded in transverse tension. Fiber-reinforced composites are widely used in engineering applications including aerospace, automotive and wind energy for their high specific properties. Cross-ply laminates are analyzed using Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) methods to predict crack formation, propagation and strength of in ‘in-situ’ 90-plies. The Crackband method proposed by Bazant and Oh, is implemented within the Finite Element Method (FEM) to preserve mesh objectivity in the failure simulations. Analysis are carried out in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/EXPLICIT supplemented by user-written subroutines. First, a homogenized model is built to determine the converged size of a Representative Volume Element (RVE) according to the shear lag theory.