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A thin-walled steel cylindrical shell is a common engineering structure that has an efficient load-carrying capacity. This structure is more easily subjected to partial axial compression loads in application, and buckling is the main failure mode. However, there are few available design methods for partial axially compressed steel cylindrical shells. Motivated by this, a design method called the localized perturbation load approach (LPLA) is proposed in this paper. The finite element framework for the application of LPLA is established. The location and number of perturbation loads are determined by considering the imperfection sensitivity and the buckling failure mode of partial axial compressed cylinders. A series of buckling experiments are carried out to validate the LPLA method. In addition, the reliability of LPLA for the design of cylindrical shells with different imperfection locations and dimensions is also verified. The results show that LPLA can give conservative and reliable lower-bound buckling loads. Therefore, LPLA can be used as a design method for thin-walled steel cylindrical shell structures under partial axial compression in actual engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]