ABSTRACT
A review of some representative aquaculture structural studies is presented, including modelling technology, field tests, and experimental studies. The results show that the volume of the cages reduces rapidly under the effect of current and cages of different dimensions perform differently under a similar fluid field. To study the effect of the dimensions and sinker weight on the effective volume of the cage under the effect of current, numerical models of full-scale aquaculture cages under uniform flow are developed here. It is shown that diameters of the cages have no significant effect on the change in volume but an increase in depth of the cage can lead to reduced normalised volume. Furthermore, a heavier sinker can also help to maintain the volume even under high current. The results of this paper can provide knowledge in the design phase of a fish cage to estimate the cultivation capacity of the cages.
