Numerical simulation and theoretical analysis were performed to explore the mechanical behavior of filament wound cylinders with rectangular defects. 3D-Hashin failure criterion was applied to distinguish the damage modes and predict the damage initiation, and damage evolution laws with parameters degradation were used. The VUMAT subroutines which was compiled by FORTRAN was established for ABAQUS/Explicit FE code. Selecting the filament wound cylinder with ［90°₂/18.9°₂/90°₂/28.9°₂/90°₂ ］winding order as the research object, the influence of defect depth on stress level was analyzed. Based on the influence of the defect depth on the circumferential and axial stress of each layer, the calculation formula for the blasting pressure of the filament wound cylinders containing defects was proposed with the adoption of the correction method. The results of this formula are in agreement with the numerical simulation results. This research reveals that when the defect depth is greater than 1.26mm, the burst pressure decreases rapidly, and affects the normal use of the cylinder.