Special Issue in Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology on “Advances in modelling mechanised tunnelling in urban environments”
Guest Editors:
Daniela Boldini (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Andrea Franza (Aarhus University, Denmark)
Arash Alimardani Lavasan (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
Nunzio Losacco (Politecnico di Bari, Italy)
This Special Issue focuses on the most recent advancements in numerical modelling of mechanised tunnelling in the urban environment to provide accurate predictions of the effects of tunnel construction in terms of ground movements and relevant soil-structure interaction phenomena, accounting for operational and construction details. Key topics include the effect of face and tail grouting pressures, the influence of lining geometry and connections, the role of passive and active reinforcements or barriers for displacement mitigation, and the challenges posed by complex geometries and by the presence of adjacent deep foundations and existing nearby tunnels or underground structures. Advanced numerical methods enable modelling these tunnel-soil and soil-structure interactions, considering both short-term effects during excavation and long-term behaviour either under static or dynamic loading.
Contributions exploring novel approaches aimed at achieving reliable predictions, with a focus on the appropriate level of model complexity in both geotechnical and structural domains, are welcome. This includes state-of-the-art numerical simulations under static and dynamic conditions, along with discussions on analytical and empirical solutions. Particular attention will be given to the validation of numerical approaches using field monitoring data, experimental measurements, physical testing as well as to the identification of model parameters for reliable simulations.
This Special Issue builds on Mini-Symposium 02 on “Advances in modelling mechanised tunnelling in urban environments” at EURO:TUN 2025. However, any Author interested in contributing is warmly invited to submit an abstract, especially those interested in other topics within the scope of EURO:TUN 2025.
The expected timeline is as follows:
The abstracts may be submitted even before the EURO:TUN 2025 Conference. Therefore, the Organisers and the MSs’ Chairpersons are invited to encourage the most valuable Conference’s Contributors to submit an abstract via the Guest Editors’ email addresses.
After abstract acceptance, the full manuscript may be submitted online by selecting in the field “Select Article Type” the option “VSI: Mech. Tunnelling EURO:TUN2025”.
Guest Editors:
Hehua Zhu (Tongji University, China)
Xiaojun Li (Tongji University, China)
Günther Meschke (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)
Timon Rabczuk (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany)
Haitao Yu (Tongji University, China) – contact person
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a transformative force in civil and underground engineering. With its growing capability in data processing, prediction, and real-time decision-making, AI is offering unprecedented opportunities for reshaping the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of underground infrastructure systems. In the context of increasing urbanization and sustainability demands, intelligent underground space development is both a technical and societal imperative.
This Special Issue in Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering (FSCE) aims to provide a platform for the latest research and breakthroughs in AI-powered underground space engineering. It seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, data science, robotics, and human-centric design, with the ultimate goal of building smarter, safer, and more resilient subsurface environments.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Data-centric engineering paradigms for underground infrastructure
- Digital twin technologies for real-time monitoring, simulation, and decision support
- AI-driven models for subsurface condition prediction and geotechnical classification
- AI-powered construction automation in mechanized tunneling and underground works
- AI-enabled structural health monitoring and predictive maintenance
- Human-centric design powered by AI for comfort and safety in underground space
- Optimization algorithms for layout planning and risk mitigation
- Hybrid AI-physics models for complex soil-structure interaction
- Applications of machine learning and deep learning in underground engineering
- Ethics, robustness, and explainability of AI in civil infrastructure applications
This Special Issue builds on MS10 on “AI-empowered future underground space” at EURO:TUN 2025. However, any author interested in contributing is warmly invited to submit a full-length paper. The mini-symposium organizers are invited to encourage the most valuable conference contributors to submit a full-length paper via FSCE’s online submission system.
As a token of appreciation, FSCE will reimburse the registration fee of EURO:TUN for one author of each accepted paper (up to 12 submissions in total). Reimbursement is requested via FSCE’s email.
Expected timeline and instructions for submission:
Full-paper submission deadline: November 30, 2025
When submitting, please choose the Special Issue title: SI: AI-empowered future underground space
Accepted papers will be published in regular issues of Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering, clearly marked and indexed as part of the Special Issue.
