Advances in Tunnel and Shield Engineering
A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: Tunnel and shield engineering
Interests: Tunnel engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are inviting submissions to this Special Issue. Shield tunneling technology is a vital method in tunnel construction that makes efficient use of underground space, and its importance continues to grow. This trend requires smarter upgrades to shield equipment and construction management techniques to ensure both safety and reasonable efficiency during tunneling. As extra-long, large-diameter, deep-buried shield tunnel projects rapidly expand, many challenges have emerged. These include technical problems caused by very large excavation areas, complicated interactions between ground conditions and equipment, and issues with equipment operation and construction management. Digital approaches that combine methods from different fields are opening new research paths, especially through machine learning, computer vision, and human–machine collaborative learning. Current technological advances mainly focus on using smart construction technologies to solve the various challenges in shield tunneling.
In this Special Issue, we invite submissions exploring cutting-edge research and recent advances in the fields of tunnel and shield engineering. Both theoretical and experimental studies are welcome, as well as comprehensive review and survey papers.
Dr. Xiangxun Kong
Dr. Jiabing Zhang
Guest Editors
Dr. Xiangxun Kong
Dr. Jiabing Zhang
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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
- Smart monitoring
- AI and machine learning
- tunneling
- maintenance
- shield engineering
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