A process for the verification and validation testing of equipment and components for drilling, completion, production and general well construction (typically such as subsurface safety valves, wellhead trees, blowout preventers and wireline pressure control equipment) to determine the suitability of such equipment for use in oil and gas wells in high pressure high temperature environments. In particular, the process of the present invention comprises, among other steps, the steps of analyzing such components using an elastic-plastic finite element model with respect to certain preset load conditions and establishing stable model convergence, conducting a ratcheting assessment by running analysis on such model on all components that exhibit local plasticity, and examining all components to determine fatigue sensitive locations and subjecting such components to a fatigue analysis. The process may further comprise a process for qualifying the materials to be used in the manufacture of the equipment components with respect to their ability to withstand high pressure and high temperature environmental conditions.