Abstract: In order to study the buckling behavior and failure model of composite cylindrical shell with aspect ratio greater than 1 subject to axial compression, the axial compression tests for two unidirectional fiber composite cylindrical shells and three composite cylindrical shells wrapped hoop fiber were conducted, respectively. The failure model, load-displacement relationship and load-strain relationship were documented during the loading process. Then, the failure mechanisms of two unidirectional fiber composite cylindrical shells were numerical analyzed and the axial compression behaviors of those two shells were comparative analyzed. The results show that there are two failure models for unidirectional fiber composite cylindrical shell under axial compression: the longitudinal splitting of cylindrical shell followed by the buckling of each plates, or the buckling of the cylindrical shell followed by the longitudinal splitting; the outer hoop fibers can improve the behavior of cylindrical shells under axial compression, and the buckling process has certain stages showing that ductile characteristics and stable carrying capacity and failure modes.