The development of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) piping with high corrosion resistance and specific properties is an attractive engineering proposition with high potential. Advantageous properties make FRP piping a potential candidate for replacing metallic piping structure in the oil and gas industry. Despite the advantages associated with FRP, their application is limited due to, in part, unsatisfactory methods for joining composite subcomponents and inadequate knowledge of failure mechanism under different loading conditions. Aim of the present paper is to study the effect of pipe scaling on the strength of adhesively bonded FRP pipes. Using finite element analysis, a study was performed to investigate dimensional effects on adhesive joint strength based on strength-of-materials and fracture mechanics considerations. Results indicate a shift in failure from adhesive to composite material with increasing pipe diameter. The Tsai-Wu and von Mises failure criteria were employed for the strength analysis of composite pipe sections and the adhesive material, respectively. A fracture mechanics approach was used to assess changes from cohesive failure (within adhesive) to interfacial failure (adhesive/FRP interface) with increasing pipe diameters. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of ICM11