Abstract: The progressive failure model of fiber reinforced plastics and the continuous damage model of composite laminate of the Ls-Dyna software were applied to simulate the mechanical response and damage modes of carbon fiber reinforced plastic laminates under in-plane shear loads, with the mechanical parameters obtained by quasi-static uniaxial tensile and in-plane shear tests. The applicability of the two models was compared. The results show that in the initial linear elastic stage during in-plane shearing, the two models could simulate the mechanical characteristics of the carbon fiber reinforced plastic laminates. As the load continued to increase, the load-displacement simulation curve obtained by the progressive failure model still rose linearly, and dropped rapidly after reaching the load peak; the simulation curve had a large deviation from the test curve. When the material was damaged, because of the introduction of damage parameters, the load-displacement simulation curve obtained by the continuous damage model was nonlinear, which was in good agreement with the test curve.