Abstract: A method for predicting the fracture strength of composite laminates with notches is an important research topic and very useful for engineering application.An experimental research on C/EP and G/EP composite laminates specimens with a single notch, a centric circular hole or a sharp tipped crack was accomplished. It is proved that the results of J-integral analysis for isotropic materials are applicable to determining the characteristic length d0 of the fracturing zone in composite materials but with taking their anisotropy into account.Based on the finite element analysis of notched composite laminates and experimental observation, a new fracture criterion for composite laminates under an uniaxial tensile load is proposed as followsThis criterion is called deformation work density fracture criterion for composite laminates as the deformation work density within a distance do from the notch is taken as a main parameter.In order to verify this model the tests for C/EP （02°/±45°/02°/± 45°/90° ）s and woven glass fibre/epoxy（0° /90°） composite laminates with a centric hole or a crack of different sizes have been completed. The fracture strength can be predited by using this criterion and the charateristic length d0 obtained from eq. （11）. Tables 3 and 4 show good agreement between the analytical results and the experimental data.