Build-up panels for the commercial aircraft fuselage subjected to the axial compression load are studied by both experimental and theoretical methods.An integral panel is designed with the same overall size and weight as the build-up structure,and finite element models（FEMs）of these two panels are established.Experimental results of build-up panels agree well with the FEM results with the nonliearity and the large deformation,so FEMs are validated.FEM calculation results of these two panels indicate that the failure mode of the integral panel is different from that of the build-up panel,and the failure load increases by 18.4% up to post-buckling.Furthermore,the integral structure is optimized by using the multi-island genetic algorithm and the sequential quadratic programming.Compared with the initial design,the optimal mass is reduced by 8.7% and the strength is unchanged.
