Abstract: To study the propagation of Rayleigh waves in a hollow cylinder, a finite element algorithm is put forward to simulate laser inducing Rayleigh waves in a hollow cylinder based on the thermoelastic mechanism. The Rayleigh waves induced by line laser source in hollow cylinders with different source-thickness and different radius were simulated and typical results were presented. Simulation results show that in the uniform thin hollow cylinder, the composition of ultrasonic waves is partly determined by the thickness of the hollow cylinder, and in a certain range, the ultrasonic waves are changing when the thickness of the hollow cylinder is changing; in the non-uniform hollow cylinder, the thickness of the source-thickness has a great influence on the generation of ultrasonic waves, and to some extent, it can determine the components of the waves. This work will provide a useful guidance for the further application of laser ultrasonic in the cylinder nondestructive testing field.