As offshore production activities move into deep and ultra deep water, composite materials offer considerable weight reduction, which leads to cost savings associated with a decrease in the payload and downsizing of the main components. In this paper, the structural response of a production riser as a component of a tension leg platform is simulated. First, a burst analysis under extreme internal pressure is performed to assess the burst capacity of the composite riser. Second, a global static structural analysis of the entire riser system under various loads is conducted, which is followed by a detailed section analysis to examine stresses and strains in the riser on a layer-by-layer basis. Also, in the section analysis, various damage theories are incorporated with reasonable stiffness reductions applied. The burst analysis shows that the metal liner is the most vulnerable part. The global axial analysis demonstrates the impact of using a composite material on the weight reduction and provides the boundary conditions for the subsequent local section analysis. In the local section analysis, no damage is expected in the particular loading scenario. When the loads are increased, failure of the metal liner takes place first and propagates rapidly, which leads to more damage in the neighboring composite layer due to load redistribution.
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