With the growing demand for high-voltage submarine cables for power transmission in the gas and oil industry and the sheer density of subsea fields, subsea cables' crossing is unavoidable. However, such cables are not without risks and the deterioration of subsea cables' crossing is a common issue. In such situations, the articulated padding is usually utilized to provide vertical separation between the crossing subsea cables and the crossed assets. The articulated padding is a lightweight item usually comprised of two polyurethane half discs attached via corrosion-resistant alloy banding or bolts and installed around the crossing cables. In this paper, modified articulated padding is introduced in which the minimum thickness of the load-bearing surface of the padding was increased and the padding profile was changed from a circle to a dodecagon, allowing the most common loading to be changed from a point load to a line load. The modified articulated padding was verified using a physical testing program and finite-element numerical modeling. The physical testing program included a radial load test, an axial load test, a combined radial and axial oscillation load test, and an abrasion test. The results of these tests demonstrated that the modified articulated padding has superior resistance to axial and radial loads when compared to previously used articulated padding. It was also verified that the stress levels in both the modified and previously used articulated paddings remain within the component material limits. However, the factor of safety achieved by the modified articulated padding was more than twice that of the previously used articulated padding. Finally, several Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys were also conducted to demonstrate the robustness of the modified articulated padding.
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