Soil–Structure Interactions for Civil Infrastructure

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 773

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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Interests: earthwork; transportation infrastructure; soil–structure interactions; foundation engineering; intelligent construction; sustainable infrastructure; embankments and slopes; structural resilience; machine learning; numerical simulation
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Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430079, China
Interests: foundation engineering; dynamic interaction; field test; pile test; ground improvement; soil mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610032, China
Interests: data mining; artificial intelligence; machine learning; subgrade engineering; high-speed railways; frozen soil engineering; transportation geotechnical engineering in cold areas
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Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Interests: traffic geotechnical engineering; subgrade composite structure design; intelligent construction of subgrade; long-term performance prediction of subgrade; subgrade risk assessment and management; advanced functional materials; solid waste resource utilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Interests: pile foundation; model tests; field tests; helical piles; slope engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil–structure interactions (SSIs) are a vital aspect of civil infrastructure design, influencing stability, performance under dynamic loads, and the resilience of structural systems. This Special Issue aims to explore recent advancements and innovative techniques regarding SSIs, focusing on applications that support intelligent and sustainable construction practices. We encourage contributions that investigate dynamic loading effects, seismic performance, and the integration of machine learning in foundation engineering and SSI analysis.

We invite submissions on a broad spectrum of topics, including foundation and retaining structure design, embankment stability, and intelligent approaches to infrastructure challenges. Studies that apply machine learning to SSIs or those that examine how transportation infrastructure is affected by SSIs under various loading conditions are particularly welcome. Research that advances sustainable practices in civil infrastructure design and highlights structural resilience is also encouraged.

This Special Issue seeks to unite research efforts across civil engineering disciplines to deepen our understanding of SSIs, thereby contributing to the development of more intelligent, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure solutions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Kaiwen Liu
Prof. Dr. Wenbing Wu
Dr. Tengfei Wang
Dr. Xiaoning Zhang
Dr. Kang Shao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • transportation infrastructure
  • soil–structure interactions
  • foundation engineering
  • intelligent construction
  • sustainable infrastructure
  • embankments and slopes
  • structural resilience
  • machine learning
  • numerical simulation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2758 KiB  
Article
Displacement Calculation of a Multi-Stage Homogeneous Loess Slope Under Seismic Action
by Jingbang Li, Shuaihua Ye, Xinzhuang Cui, Biao Liu and Nianxiang Li
Buildings 2025, 15(9), 1484; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15091484 - 27 Apr 2025
Viewed by 120
Abstract
Slope instability often brings serious threats to human production and life, which causes huge economic losses. The slope displacement calculation under seismic action is very important to ensure the safety and stability of a slope. At present, there are few studies on the [...] Read more.
Slope instability often brings serious threats to human production and life, which causes huge economic losses. The slope displacement calculation under seismic action is very important to ensure the safety and stability of a slope. At present, there are few studies on the displacement calculation of multi-stage loess slopes under seismic action. Based on the basic theory of soil dynamics and the introduction of the comprehensive slope ratio, this paper proposes a new displacement calculating method of multi-stage homogeneous loess slopes under seismic action and provides the calculation formula. The rationality of the theoretical calculation is verified using the numerical simulation software Geo Studio (V2022). The study shows that it is feasible to simplify the geometric characteristics of multi-stage loess slopes by adopting the comprehensive slope ratio, which can also reasonably reflect the displacement characteristics of multi-stage loess slopes under seismic action. The example verification shows that the deviation of the peak horizontal displacement between the calculating method of this paper and the numerical simulation result is 5.5%, which shows that the calculation method of this paper is reasonable and has a certain application value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil–Structure Interactions for Civil Infrastructure)
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14 pages, 12254 KiB  
Article
Experimental Exploration of Performance of “Prestressed” Geosynthetic-Reinforced Sheet Pile Retaining Wall
by Yong Liu, Tengfei Yan, Xinning Tan, Zhilong Shi and Kaiwen Liu
Buildings 2025, 15(8), 1278; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15081278 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 182
Abstract
The sheet pile wall, a widely used retaining structure in railway construction, faces limitations such as restricted height, construction difficulties, and high costs. While geosynthetic-reinforced soil technology enhances soil tensile strength, it often lacks sufficient stiffness and strength. To address these issues, this [...] Read more.
The sheet pile wall, a widely used retaining structure in railway construction, faces limitations such as restricted height, construction difficulties, and high costs. While geosynthetic-reinforced soil technology enhances soil tensile strength, it often lacks sufficient stiffness and strength. To address these issues, this study proposes a “prestressed” geosynthetic-reinforced sheet pile retaining wall structure. The geosynthetic-reinforced soil was subjected to preloading to induce “prestress”, with enhanced soil reinforcement interaction improving load-bearing capacity, reducing horizontal displacement, and ensuring railway safety. Indoor model tests were conducted on sandy soil foundations to investigate the structure’s load settlement behavior, pile horizontal displacement, earth pressure distribution, pile bending moments, and reinforcement strain development. The results show that applying “prestress” significantly enhances soil reinforcement interaction, enabling the pile–slab wall to better retain soil and improve overall performance. The load-bearing capacity increased by 21.7% and 16.6% in two respective tests, while horizontal displacement was effectively reduced. The maximum earth pressure was observed on the right side of the pile, 20 cm above the base, and the maximum bending moment occurred in the anchored section. Prestressing also enhanced the utilization of the tensile reinforcement. The proposed structure offers a promising approach for optimizing railway retaining structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil–Structure Interactions for Civil Infrastructure)
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15 pages, 4832 KiB  
Article
Surface Settlement of Deep Foundation Pit Considering the Influence of Excavation and Freeze–Thaw
by Yuanxun Li, Song Chen, Chuan Ma and Jiagen Shi
Buildings 2025, 15(7), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15071104 - 28 Mar 2025
Viewed by 129
Abstract
In order to address the issue of surface deformation in wintering foundation pits in seasonal frozen soil areas due to excavation and freeze–thaw, an indoor scale model test was conducted to examine the displacement relationship between pit wall soil and supporting structures under [...] Read more.
In order to address the issue of surface deformation in wintering foundation pits in seasonal frozen soil areas due to excavation and freeze–thaw, an indoor scale model test was conducted to examine the displacement relationship between pit wall soil and supporting structures under freeze–thaw conditions, as well as the temperature change and water migration of soil surrounding the foundation pit. The distribution mode of surface settlement under excavation and freeze–thaw conditions was examined and a surface settlement calculation model was established based on the maximum value of surface settlement. The water will move from the frozen to the unfrozen region as a result of the freeze–thaw cycle. About 1.1 m is the freezing depth. An increase in surface settlement will result from the coordination of deformation between the soil and the supporting structure during freezing and thawing. The greatest surface settlement value following the initial freeze–thaw cycle is 1.082 mm, which is around 215% greater than that of excavation. The skewed distribution is comparable to the surface settlement curves produced by excavation and freeze–thaw cycles. The calculated model’s results and the measured settlement values agree rather well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil–Structure Interactions for Civil Infrastructure)
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