Designing Tomorrow's Coral Reefs: 3dcp Potential In Innovative Artificial Coral Reefs Systems Development

The reef's substrate stability and intricacy are directly related to the ecosystem's longevity. Reefs affected by extreme weather events face the problem of unconsolidated substrates, resulting in fractured coral branches, that present an obstacle to natural recovery hindering coral attachment and settlement. The natural substrate stabilization process can take up to 10 years to develop functional ecosystems without human intervention. Common artificial reef structures fail to recreate the natural reef complex structures, resulting in a low success rate in creating functional ecosystems and substrate consolidation. This paper proposes a new approach to the development of artificial coral reefs (ACR), exploring the incorporation of robotic 3D printing in the creation of internally connected block structures inspired by the articulated concrete block mattresses (ACB Mats) mechanics. Based on the literature review we present guidelines for the development of a proposal that should serve as both an ACR and a substrate consolidating structure.