Reliability, Resilience and Sustainability for Construction and Infrastructure Systems

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 651

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: FRP–concrete–steel composite structures; steel–concrete composite structures; concrete-filled steel tubes; stainless steel structures; bamboo structures; cross-section instability
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern construction and infrastructure systems face unprecedented challenges due to climate change, urbanization, aging assets, and increasing interdependencies. Ensuring infrastructure reliability (consistent performance under normal conditions), resilience (ability to withstand and recover from disruptions), and sustainability (long-term environmental, economic, and social viability) is critical for the transformation of the construction industry. This Special Issue aims to explore cutting-edge research, innovative technologies, and integrated strategies that leverage digital tools, artificial intelligence, and advanced management practices to enhance the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of infrastructure systems, including buildings, transportation, energy, water, and smart cities.

We welcome original research, case studies, and review articles addressing topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Advanced analysis methods: New reliability analysis methods, resilience analysis methods, and sustainability evaluation methods.
  • Structural Reliability: Predictive maintenance, failure analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, and lifecycle performance optimization.
  • Resilience Engineering: Adaptive design, disaster preparedness, rapid recovery strategies, and stress-testing infrastructure under extreme events.
  • Sustainable Infrastructure: Low-carbon materials, circular economy applications, energy-efficient systems, and green infrastructure solutions.
  • Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: Infrastructure hardening, nature-based solutions, and decarbonization strategies for resilient and sustainable systems.
  • Policy, Governance, and Socioeconomic Factors: Regulatory frameworks, investment models, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and equity considerations in infrastructure planning.
  • Systemic Risks and Interdependencies: Cascading failures, critical infrastructure interdependencies, and network-wide resilience optimization.

This Special Issue encourages interdisciplinary contributions from engineering, environmental science, data science, economics, and policy studies. It seeks to provide actionable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to develop infrastructure that is reliable under daily demands, resilient to shocks, and sustainable for future generations.

Prof. Dr. Zhenhao Zhang
Dr. Yue-Ling Long
Dr. Dong Li
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. Buildings 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 2600 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

  • structural reliability
  • structural resilience
  • infrastructure sustainability
  • advanced analysis methods
  • quantitative evaluation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 2011 KB  
Article
A Second-Order Second-Moment Approximate Probabilistic Design Method for Structural Components Considering the Curvature of Limit State Surfaces
by Hanmin Liu, Yicheng Mao, Zhenhao Zhang, Fang Yuan and Fuming Wang
Buildings 2025, 15(18), 3421; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15183421 - 22 Sep 2025
Viewed by 116
Abstract
The current engineering structural design code employs a direct probability design method based on the Taylor series expansion of the performance function at verification points, retaining only linear terms. This approach ignores the curvature and other nonlinear properties of the performance function, leading [...] Read more.
The current engineering structural design code employs a direct probability design method based on the Taylor series expansion of the performance function at verification points, retaining only linear terms. This approach ignores the curvature and other nonlinear properties of the performance function, leading to insufficient accuracy. To address the deficiencies of the current design method, this paper develops an approximate probability design method that considers the curvature of the limit state surface, integrating it with the second-order moment theory based on the direct probability design method. Using a simply supported plate as a representative example, this paper systematically compares the performance of the proposed design method with the direct probability design method, the partial coefficient method, and the design value method in reinforcement design. The reinforcement areas calculated by the four methods are similar, confirming the correctness and practicality of the proposed method for engineering applications. The accuracy of the design outcomes from the various methods is validated through Monte Carlo simulation. The results indicate that the method proposed in this paper exhibits a high accuracy, with the relative errors of the reliability indices in the two examples being 0.346% and 0.228%, respectively—significantly lower than those of the direct probability design method (2.919% and 0.769%, respectively). This underscores the effectiveness and substantial benefits of the proposed method in structural reliability design, offering a dependable, highly accurate, and economically viable design tool for engineering applications. Full article
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18 pages, 5480 KB  
Article
Experimental Study on Performance of High-Performance Concrete Based on Different Fine Aggregate Systems
by Xiaojun He, Enjin Zhu, Mingxiang Zhang, Liao Wu and Peiguo Li
Buildings 2025, 15(18), 3386; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15183386 - 18 Sep 2025
Viewed by 236
Abstract
To advance the adoption of manufactured sand, this study investigated concrete mix designs wherein manufactured sand partially substituted natural river sand and fully replaced fine aggregates. The influences of the water–binder ratio and fly ash content were also examined. Experimental findings indicate that [...] Read more.
To advance the adoption of manufactured sand, this study investigated concrete mix designs wherein manufactured sand partially substituted natural river sand and fully replaced fine aggregates. The influences of the water–binder ratio and fly ash content were also examined. Experimental findings indicate that at replacement rates of 50% and 70%, the workability and mechanical properties of mixed sand concrete experienced a decline. The mechanical performance of concrete improved as the water–binder ratio decreased. Additionally, the strength properties of manufactured sand concrete initially increased with higher fly ash content but slightly decreased when fly ash content reached 30%. Nevertheless, all strength metrics still satisfied the design specifications. Thus, the overall performance of high-performance concrete incorporating manufactured sand remains favorable, demonstrating its viability as a full replacement for river sand in concrete production. Full article
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