Experimental testing and CFD modelling for prototype design of innovative Artificial Reef structures

Abstract

This research aims to provide insight on the experimental results obtained induring hydraulic flume channel testing of a multifunctional artificial reef (MFAR) prototype employing various turbulence models and discretization schemes for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations. The recently developed Multifunctional Artificial Reef is believed to be an effective tool to support marine ecosystem regeneration. Innovative design of the reef structure involves reticulated unconventional geometry, which results in complex interactions with the surrounding environment. To evaluate the structures behavior in water flow, hydraulic water flume tests were performed, to obtain the horizontal and vertical mean water flow velocity profiles.Additionally, the experimental setup and conditions were replicated in numerical simulation models to obtain comparative results, using different turbulence models and solution controls. Finally, these physical experimental results could be compared against numerical models within the CFD. This proved that the second order discretization scheme, and particularly k