Hydrodynamic Performance of Cubic Artificial Reefs During Deployment Process Based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Currently, research on the hydrodynamic characteristics of artificial reef deployment still faces challenges such as insufficient environmental coupling, but accurate simulation of the deployment process holds significant engineering importance for optimizing deployment efficiency and ensuring reef stability. This study employs the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method to establish a 3D numerical model, focusing on the influence of key parameters—inflow velocity and water entry angle—on the hydrodynamic characteristics of cubic artificial reef deployment. The results indicate that under flow velocities of 0.4–0.5 m/s, pressure fluctuations are relatively minor, with peak pressure gradients below 15 kPa/m, exhibiting a gradual trend, while particle concentration remains high, and drag gradually increases. At flow velocities of 0.6–0.8 m/s, the maximum pressure at the bottom reaches up to 35 kPa, with low-pressure areas at the tail dropping to −10 kPa; particle concentration decreases compared to conditions at 0.4–0.5 m/s; settling time extends from 8.4 s to 12 s, representing a 42% increase. Under different water entry angles, drag varies nonlinearly with the angle, reaching its maximum at 20° and its minimum at 25°, with a reduction of approximately 47% compared to the maximum. The anti-sliding safety factor and anti-overturning safety factor are used to assess the stability of the cubic reef placed on the seabed. Across different inflow velocities, the anti-sliding safety factor of the cubic artificial reef significantly exceeds 1.2, whereas the anti-overturning safety factor is below 1.2 at 0.4 m/s but exceeds 1.2 at velocities of 0.5 m/s and above, indicating that the reef maintains stability under the majority of these flow conditions. Our findings provide a scientific basis for the deployment process, site selection, and geometric design of cubic artificial reefs, offering valuable insights for the precise deployment and structural optimization of artificial reefs in marine ranching construction.