Bending of composite plate weakened by square hole

•The analytical solution to find moment around a square hole is presented.•Effects of ply groups, stacking sequence, corner radii etc. are addressed.•Failure strength of composite plate under bending is demonstrated.

The present analytic investigations emphasizes on the effect of stacking sequence, ply groups, loading angles, materials and corner radii on the failure strength and moment distribution in symmetric laminated composite plate weakened by a square hole. The generalized close form solution of bending moment around such cut-out is presented by using the Muskhelishvili׳s complex variable formulation. The layer wise stresses and failure strengths are studied and the failure strengths of laminates are investigated.