The instability problem of imperfect, laminated, moderately thick, circular cylindrical shells under the action of individual and combined application of uniform axial compression and external lateral pressure is investigated. The analysis is based on nonlinear kinematic relations, where the effect of transverse shear deformation is taken into account. The buckling is assumed to be elastic and the geometry to have initial geometric imperfections. A solution methodology has been developed and employed in generating results. The imperfection sensitivity is investigated. The results obtained indicate that geometric imperfections have small effect on the limit point load for moderately thick cylindrical shells. In addition, limited parametric studies have been made in order to assess the effect of length-to-radius ratio, radius-to-thickness ratio, and stacking sequence on the critical loads.
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