Abstract. The advantages of glass fiber reinforced composites (FRP) and SIPs (structural insulated panels) are combined, and a new type of sandwich panel called composite structural insulated panels (CSIPs) is proposed. Through the adhesive bonding, CSIPs are made of FRP as face sheets and expanded polyethylene foam (EPS) as a core. To master the mechanical characteristics of CSIPs, firstly, adopting the large deflection theory of Reissener in this paper derived the calculation formula of displacement and the stability critical load of CSIPs. Then, ANSYS software was used to carry on the analysis of finite element simulation. Finally, a testing piece of CSIP with length 1000mm and breath 1000mm was made and a test was done. The results show that the theoretical analysis results, finite element simulation results and test results are basically coincide. So the calculating formula of deformation and bearing capacity of CSIPs are correct. And CSIPs have the outstanding advantages of light weight and high strength.