The evolution of damage in laminated fiber reinforced composites is a complex phenomenon, which involves interaction of different modes of failure like fiber breakage, matrix cracking, fiber-matrix debonding and delamination. In the present work the effect of fiber volume fraction and different damage mechanisms such as fiber breakage, fiber-matrix debond and matrix cracks on the effective properties of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites is predicted based on a micromechanical analysis. The material properties are calculated using a three-dimensional micromechanical representative volume element (RVE). A finite element based progressive damage model is developed to predict failure behavior of a laminate in respective load-constraint conditions. The proposed model also helps to determine where and how failure occurs first and how the damage evolves. Hashin’s and Puck’s failure models are used for laminated composite plates of various stacking sequences and their respective numerical results are compared. The influences of the failure criteria and material degradation model are studied through a numerical analysis. The case studies considered vary from a unidirectional laminate with a hole, laminates with single bolt lap joint. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.