Abstract
© QinetiQ Ltd 2014.In a manner reminiscent to establishing the 'periodic table', researchers and keen material scientists/engineers have been engaged in intensive activities trying to identify their own characteristic model or discover a unique aspect/failure mode in a composites material. No tangible progress could have possibly been achieved without the relentless efforts made by some 40 dedicated developers of advanced methods for failure criteria for composites. They have been at the core of an international initiative, referred to as the World-Wide Failure Exercise (WWFE). It is aimed at establishing the maturity of existing method and the remaining challenges of building the best method to accurately predict the strength of composites materials. The paper deals generally with the three exercise (WWFE, WWFE-II and WFE-III) which have been conducted over the last 20 years. The focus is on some of the lessons emanating from the latest exercise (WWFE-III).