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Innovations in Building Foundations and Geotechnical Materials: Sustainable Technologies and...
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Innovations in Building Foundations and Geotechnical Materials: Sustainable Technologies and Engineering Performance

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1282

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jie Yuan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: soft clay engineering property; underground structure
Prof. Dr. Xingxin Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
Interests: tunnel and subway construction; underground engineering; groundwater seepage
Dr. Renguo Gu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Interests: smart geotechnical testing and detection technology; new building materials; long-term performance of structures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern building engineering faces dual challenges: ensuring the safety of foundations in complex environments and reducing the carbon footprint of construction activities. To address these issues, the industry is shifting towards innovative foundation systems and advanced civil engineering materials. This Special Issue aims to provide a multidisciplinary platform covering the intersection of foundation engineering, material science, and construction technology. We invite broad contributions ranging from the development of green construction materials to their application in ground improvement and foundation support. The scope is not limited to material synthesis but extends to advanced numerical simulation and field performance monitoring. We particularly welcome research on smart construction technologies, problematic soil treatment, and the mechanical behavior of novel geotechnical composites under static or dynamic loads. By integrating new material solutions with modern foundation design, this collection seeks to promote resilient, sustainable, and high-performance building infrastructures.

Prof. Dr. Jie Yuan
Prof. Dr. Xingxin Chen
Dr. Renguo Gu
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. 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

  • advanced foundation engineering
  • green building materials
  • innovative ground improvement
  • soil-structure interaction
  • smart construction technologies
  • seismic resilience and stability
  • numerical simulation and AI
  • case studies of underground construction

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 12096 KB  
Article
Experimental Investigation and Simplified Assessment of Ultimate Pulling Length for Long-Distance Submarine Cable Pulling Using a Ball-Frame and Tensioned Steel Cable Series System
by Chunhao Lu, Zhidu Huang, Weizhu Gan, Hua Qin, Wei Xu, Lingzhen Ba and Renguo Gu
Buildings 2026, 16(9), 1671; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16091671 - 24 Apr 2026
Viewed by 292
Abstract
Long-distance pulling of submarine cables inside horizontal directional drilling (HDD) steel casings is often limited by high interfacial resistance, rapid pulling-force accumulation, and poor adaptability to muddy-sandy environments. In addition, conventional outward-extending roller devices are relatively bulky, which increases the required casing diameter [...] Read more.
Long-distance pulling of submarine cables inside horizontal directional drilling (HDD) steel casings is often limited by high interfacial resistance, rapid pulling-force accumulation, and poor adaptability to muddy-sandy environments. In addition, conventional outward-extending roller devices are relatively bulky, which increases the required casing diameter and reaming size. To address these issues, this study proposes a compact ball-frame and tensioned steel cable series drag-reduction device. An 18 m local full-scale pulling test system was established using an actual engineering submarine cable, a practical-scale steel casing, and full-scale drag-reduction devices. The effects of pipe curvature, device spacing, terminal reaction force, and in-casing medium conditions on the equivalent friction coefficient were investigated. The results show that the equivalent friction coefficient of the submarine cable–steel casing system is maintained at 0.25–0.36 under most test conditions, which is significantly lower than the commonly adopted value of 0.55 for direct contact. Based on the experimentally identified parameters, a simplified assessment model for ultimate pulling length was established for construction scheme comparison and preliminary capacity estimation. The results indicate that, with the implementation of the tensioned steel cable series system, the ultimate pulling length increases from 431/696 m for direct pulling to 954/1424 m. These results provide valuable technical references for drag-reduction scheme selection and preliminary construction-capacity assessment in HDD landfall sections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Building Foundations and Geotechnical Materials: Sustainable Technologies and Engineering Performance)
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21 pages, 10343 KB  
Article
Large-Sample Data-Driven Prediction of VSM Shaft Structural Responses: A Case Study on Guangzhou–Huadu Intercity Railway Shield Shaft
by Xuechang Cheng, Xin Peng, Xinlong Li, Bangchao Zhang, Junyi Zhang and Yi Shan
Buildings 2026, 16(8), 1605; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16081605 - 18 Apr 2026
Viewed by 353
Abstract
With the increasing application of the Vertical Shaft Machine (VSM) method in ultra-deep shafts, accurate prediction of construction-induced structural stresses is vital for engineering safety. Currently, VSM is predominantly used in soft soils, where structural response analysis still relies on finite element (FE) [...] Read more.
With the increasing application of the Vertical Shaft Machine (VSM) method in ultra-deep shafts, accurate prediction of construction-induced structural stresses is vital for engineering safety. Currently, VSM is predominantly used in soft soils, where structural response analysis still relies on finite element (FE) simulations that are computationally intensive and complex to model. To improve analysis efficiency and understand the structural behavior of VSM shafts in granite composite strata, this study takes the first VSM shaft project in South China—the Guangzhou–Huadu Intercity Railway Shield Shaft—as a case study. A “monitoring-driven, large-sample data, machine learning substitution” framework is proposed for predicting structural stresses during construction. The framework calibrates an FE model using monitoring data. Through full factorial design, key design parameters—including main reinforcement diameter, stirrup diameter, concrete strength grade, and steel plate thickness—are systematically varied. Parametric FE simulations are then conducted to construct large-sample response databases (540 sets for ring 0 and 864 sets for the cutting edge ring). Genetic algorithm is introduced to optimize the hyperparameters of Random Forest, XGBoost, and Neural Network models, and their predictive performances are systematically compared. Results show that the proposed framework effectively substitutes traditional FE analysis and enables rapid multi-parameter comparison. Among the models, GA-XGBoost achieves the highest prediction accuracy across all stress indicators (R2 > 0.999, where R2 is the coefficient of determination, with values closer to 1 indicating better predictive performance), demonstrating the superiority of its gradient boosting and regularization mechanisms in handling tabular data with strong physical correlations. Moreover, the method exhibits good extensibility to other engineering response predictions beyond construction stresses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Building Foundations and Geotechnical Materials: Sustainable Technologies and Engineering Performance)
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20 pages, 3995 KB  
Article
Hydro-Mechanical Coupling Analysis of Field Pumping Test in Granite Residual Soil Site
by Zefu Li, Yadong Li, Shuyu Nie, Zikang Pang, Jie Cui and Yi Shan
Buildings 2026, 16(5), 993; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16050993 - 3 Mar 2026
Viewed by 325
Abstract
In addressing the challenge that the settlement behavior of granite residual soil in South China during foundation pit dewatering cannot be fully understood due to its unsaturated characteristics, this study proposes and validates an unsaturated fluid–solid coupling calculation method for dewatering-induced settlement analysis. [...] Read more.
In addressing the challenge that the settlement behavior of granite residual soil in South China during foundation pit dewatering cannot be fully understood due to its unsaturated characteristics, this study proposes and validates an unsaturated fluid–solid coupling calculation method for dewatering-induced settlement analysis. This method is implemented by compiling FISH language code within a finite difference software framework. Validation was carried out by comparing thes simulated groundwater drawdown–time response with the measured drawdown from a field pumping test, demonstrating the improved agreement of the proposed unsaturated coupling approach relative to the conventional coupling scheme. Furthermore, to elucidate the soil settlement mechanisms, a sensitivity analysis of the deformation behavior of granite residual soil during dewatering was performed. The results demonstrate that, compared to the traditional fluid–solid coupling method, the unsaturated fluid–solid coupling method exhibits superior agreement with field dewatering experiments. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the differential settlement observed in the soil surrounding a dewatering well under the same target drawdown is primarily attributed to variations in drainage consolidation time and pore water pressure dissipation. Finally, a normalized analysis correlating the dewatering depth at the well with the resulting soil settlement deformation was conducted, establishing a practical relationship applicable under similar ground conditions and dewatering durations. This analysis provides theoretical guidance for selecting appropriate dewatering schemes during engineering practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Building Foundations and Geotechnical Materials: Sustainable Technologies and Engineering Performance)
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