In this study a cohesive zone model was used to simulate the delamination phenomena which occurs by a successive crack initiation and propagation in composite laminates. The cohesive zone model was incorporated to the classical finite element method via cohesive element formulation and then implemented into the user-subroutine UEL of a commercial finite element program Abaqus. To validate the formulation and implementation of the cohesive element the finite element results were compared with the experimental data of double cantilever beam and end notched flexure tests. The numerical results well agree with the experimental load-displacement curves. Also the effect of the elastic stiffness and the size of the cohesive element on the global load-displacement curves were studied numerically. To minimize the mesh-dependency of the crack propagation path and eliminate the zig-zag patterns in the load-displacement curve, cohesive elements should be refined at the crack-tip.