As laminated fiber composite structural elements become more popular, their mechanical properties need to be efficiently modeled; in particular, that there be a complete understanding of their buckling and postbuckling behavior. The work will plan for a study focused on the development of methods for analyzing the local, Euler, and flexural-torsional modes of buckling in laminated composite beams of open and closed cross section. The effects of shear deformation will be accounted for. The methods will be developed for beams whose cross-sectional elements consist of rectangular laminated plates with varying degrees of anisotropy.//