Abstract: This paper is devoted to postbuckling analysis of laminated composite cylindrical shell under lateral pressure. A nine-node degenerated three-dimensional shell element and a total Lagrangian formulation are employed. A progressive failure model and an improved arc-length scheme are introduced into the nonlinear finite element procedure. The present finite element analysis is verified by some examples. The postbuckling deformation patterns and postbuckling load carrying capacity of shells with different stacking sequences are analyzed.