As an ecological and environmentally friendly method for reef cleaning，the rock breaking method by a breaking hammer is increasingly widely used in engineering construction and waterway regulation and excavation.However，there are few studies on the evolution rule of reef damage under high-frequency vibration impact，and insufficient studies are conducted on the impact parameters of a breaking hammer on reef damage.Based on the field test data of underwater reef cleaning by a breaking hammer，this paper establishes a numerical calculation model for rock damage under the impact of a breaking hammer，explores the rules of reef breaking by a breaking hammer under different parameters，and analyzes the main controlling factors of reef breaking by a breaking hammer by using the range analysis method.The results show that with the increase in operating oil pressure，the reef breaking parameters increase nonlinearly，and the reef breaking volume increases linearly.With the increase in impact frequency，the value of the reef breaking parameters first increases and then remains unchanged.With the increase in reef strength，the value of the reef breaking parameters decreases.The operating oil pressure is the main controlling factor for the efficiency of reef breaking by a breaking hammer，followed by the impact frequency，and finally the reef strength.