Panels with variously shaped cutout are often used in engineering structures. The understanding of the effects of cutout on the load bearing capacity and stress concentration of such plates is very important in designing of structures. However, little research has been focused on stress analysis of plates with special shaped cutout. This study investigates problems associated with the stress concentration in perforated composite plates with quasi-square shaped cutouts. Analytical solution for stress analysis of composite plates with central cutout is presented. Analytical and numerical studies were conducted to investigate the effects of variation in cutout orientation and bluntness, material properties and loading direction on the location and the value of the maximum stress in flat plate subjected uni-axial tension load. This study expands the Lekhnitskii\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s solution for circular and elliptical cutout to square-shape cutouts. The solution is capable of considering large variety of cutout shapes and loading conditions analytically. Based on results presented herein, the maximum normalized stress of perforated composite plates can be significantly changed by using proper material properties, loading angle, cutout bluntness and orientation

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