The transient and non-uniform moisture concentration distributions in
laminated composite plates give rise to transient and non-uniform stre
ss fields which are investigated here. It is shown that heterogeneity
and anisotropy of such plates cause, in general, the transient stress
distributions to be very different to those in the equilibrium stress
distributions. Some stacking sequences exhibit non-negligible transver
se stresses in their plies which have to be taken into account in the
design of composite structures submitted to a moist environment.