This paper focuses on understanding the deformation and progressive failure behavior of glass/epoxy plain weave fabric-reinforced laminates subjected to uniaxial tension load at cryogenic temperatures. Cryogenic tensile tests were conducted on the woven-fabric laminates, and the damage development during loading was characterized by AE (acoustic emission) measurements. A finite element methodology for progressive failure analysis of woven-fabric composite panels was also developed, and applied to simulate "knee" behavior in the stress-strain responses and damage behavior in the tensile test specimens. The effect of strain concentrations due to the fabric architecture on the failure strain of the material was considered by incorporating the SVF (strain variation factor) from meso-scale analysis of a woven-fabric composite unit into the macro-scale analysis of the specimens. A comparison was made between the finite element predictions and the experimental data, and the agreement is good.
