The hydrodynamic characteristics of new design for artificial reef with low flow
drag to provide suitable shelter for fishes and marine organisms in the Malaysian seas, were
studied in this paper. The concept used in the design is based on the streamlined bicycle helmet
design concept. The flow characteristics and the wave forces (FW) of the helmet and hollow
cube artificial reefs (ARs) of the same volume have been studied at a water depth and wave
celerties of Malaysia seas using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) RANSE (ReynoldsAveraged
Navier-Stokes Eqs.) code Ansys Fluent. The Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence
model was used in the RANSE code. The streamlined body of the helmet artificial reef provides
flow zones with moderate flow speed at this area, which can help fishes and marine organisms
to find good shelter. The special shape of the different openings in the body of the helmet
artificial reef improves the condition of the flow velocity distribution inside the unit than that
of the hollow cube unit, which can increase the amount of the nutrient to the living fishes and
organisms inside the reef.