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Research on Tunnel Construction and Underground Engineering

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 660

Special Issue Editors

Department of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Interests: tunnel engineering; surrounding rock stability; support design; subsea tunnel; analytical modelling
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Guest Editor
College of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
Interests: tunnel construction mechanics; soil-structure interaction; assessment and improvement of urban underground space structural resilience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Significant risks and safety issues are associated with tunnel construction and underground engineering, and these should be prioritized and reliably addressed at the design, construction, and operation stages. This Special Issue aims to provide a venue for communicating original achievements and new insights into tunnel construction and underground engineering research. The topics of interest are broad, covering new design concepts, construction methods, and maintenance technologies in underground engineering, experimental studies (field tests, indoor tests, and material tests), analytical modelling, and numerical simulation. High-quality case studies and critical literature reviews are also welcome. We therefore invite investigators to contribute to this Special Issue on “Research on Tunnel Construction and Underground Engineering” with original research papers.

Dr. Zhenyu Sun
Dr. Liqiang Cao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • tunnel construction
  • underground engineering
  • construction safety
  • support design
  • surrounding rock stability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 1671 KB  
Article
A Review of the CLH Index, an Empirical Methodology for TBM Cutter Wear Estimation
by Carlos Laín Huerta, Anselmo César Soto Pérez, Esther Pérez Arellano and Jorge Suárez-Macías
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(22), 11878; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152211878 - 7 Nov 2025
Viewed by 396
Abstract
This study presents a comprehensive review of the CLH index, a predictive tool developed to estimate the wear of tunnel boring machine (TBM) disc cutters operating in hard rock conditions. The CLH index provides a simplified, time-efficient, and cost-effective alternative to conventional wear [...] Read more.
This study presents a comprehensive review of the CLH index, a predictive tool developed to estimate the wear of tunnel boring machine (TBM) disc cutters operating in hard rock conditions. The CLH index provides a simplified, time-efficient, and cost-effective alternative to conventional wear prediction methods by employing a statistically derived empirical formula. The methodology is based on the identification and quantitative assessment of key rock properties that influence cutter wear. A detailed statistical analysis was conducted to validate the index, quantify potential errors, and determine confidence levels. As part of this review, updated reference tables are proposed to facilitate cutter wear estimation without the need for preliminary laboratory testing. These tables are derived from empirical data obtained at the Rock Mechanics Laboratory of the Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineers (ETSIME-UPM), using operational records from TBM excavation in multiple Spanish high-speed railway tunnels, with a total length exceeding 120 km. The results confirm the reliability and practical applicability of the CLH index as a decision-support tool in TBM performance forecasting and maintenance planning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Tunnel Construction and Underground Engineering)
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