The aim of the doctoral thesis is to create and further develop simplified models for assessment of a low-speed impact damage to laminated composite as well as of the influence of the damage on mechanical properties of the composite and on thin-walled structural members made of this material. A reliable calculation-based prediction of failure incurred by an impact on composite structures requires an adequate simulation of the behavior of composite material upon an impact. The existing criteria for simulation of ongoing fracture of the composite are either not very accurate or require a great number of additional initial characteristics for calculation, which makes their practical application cumbersome. Thus, notwithstanding the variety of failure criteria offered by researchers, the problem of a physically correct and practically feasible approach to calculating a stepwise decline in rigidity in the local area of a composite structure subjected to impact is still topical. For this purpose, the doctoral thesis has solved the following problems. 1. An elementary model which exactly simulates the shape of the damaged surface depending on a stepwise contact penetration into the target has been developed and tested. This model allows one to accurately reproduce the stress-strain state taking into account the shape of the damaged surface, impact energy, and contact force. The experimentally obtained results lie within the stated limits. 2. An elementary model based on a stepwise change in the contact area with increasing contact pressure has been developed. It enables one, on the one hand, to establish exact correlation between the energy and contact pressure and, on the other hand, to assess the decline in the bending rigidity component which determines the degree of damage of the structure. The results can be used as initial data for calculation of the ongoing destruction incurred by an impact to the real structure. 3. A method for determining characteristic points on the curve “contact force–contact point displacement” has been suggested and substantiated, which allows one to simulate properly the process of propagating damage by means of the finite-element calculation. This makes it possible to reduce significantly the amount of initial data required for the use of the existing criteria for ongoing composite fracture that are input in the FEM analysis. The resulting damaged state of the structure makes it possible to obtain reliable data for assessment of the decline in strength at various kinds of static loading. 4. Auxiliary programs have been developed and debugged for implementation of the entire computational cycle. The methods suggested and the models elaborated have been used in designing the composite wing, wing high-lift devices, and flight-control components. The results of the investigations were reported at 7 international conferences and published in 18 articles.