Researchers used quantitative and experimental simulations to characterize the cracking behavior of warp and weft yarns in ceramic composite woven fabrics as unit vectors perpendicular to the plane and scalar functions of the physical parameters that caused the defects. Equations derived the free energy function of strains and damage. Modification of the Clausius Duhem inequality characterized the damage process. Simulated tests on fabrics oriented at 20 degrees and 45 degrees revealed that the applied stress was a function of the longitudinal and transverse strains. The good correlation between the numerical simulations and the off-axis tests validated the modeling of the woven fabrics. 8 refs.