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A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Process Safety and Risk Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2026 | Viewed by 3418

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tao Zhang

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Construction and Healthy Operation and Maintenance of Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: rock fracture; underground engi-neering; discrete element method (DEM) simulation

Dr. Yaoyao Meng

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Digital Intelligent Technology for Unmanned Coal Mining, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
Interests: disaster mechanism of deep underground engineering; deep rock mass mechanics based on 3D printing; rock mechanics and underground engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Liyuan Yu

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Construction and Healthy Operation and Maintenance of Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: rock dynamics; seepage in fractured rock masses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce the launch of a new Special Issue (within the theme of Process Safety and Risk Management) entitled “Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field”. In critical engineering domains—including deep mineral resource exploitation, tunnel construction, and slope stabilization—safety and operational stability stand as paramount priorities that underpin project viability. Numerical simulation, as a pivotal technical tool, enables precise prediction and systematic control of engineering risks and, thus, plays an indispensable role in advancing the scientific rigor of engineering design and mitigating catastrophic hazards.

Contemporary engineering projects are increasingly challenged due to complex operating environments. Extreme conditions, such as high in situ stress and multi-physical field coupling, have rendered the mechanisms governing engineering risks far more intricate—limitations that traditional theoretical and experimental approaches struggle to overcome. The rapid evolution of numerical simulation technology has emerged as a transformative solution to this impasse, facilitating in-depth characterization of complex engineering behaviors while serving as a critical nexus between fundamental theoretical research and practical engineering implementation. This Special Issue aims to showcase cutting-edge research outcomes, innovative simulation methodologies, and engineering application insights in the realm of numerical simulation for engineering, thereby establishing a high-caliber academic exchange platform for researchers and practitioners globally.

We cordially invite submissions of original research articles and state-of-the-art review papers. Relevant topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

Advanced numerical simulation methodologies for engineering safety analysis (e.g., discrete element method, finite element method, phase field modeling, etc.).

Numerical simulation and experimental validation of engineering risk behaviors under multi-field coupling conditions.

Numerical simulation-driven risk prediction and optimal design of prevention/control strategies for engineering systems (e.g., mining safety, tunnel infrastructure).

Practical applications of numerical simulation in representative engineering safety scenarios

We eagerly anticipate your valuable contributions.

Dr. Tao Zhang
Dr. Yaoyao Meng
Prof. Dr. Liyuan Yu
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. Processes 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

numerical simulation
macro–meso mechanism
multi-field coupling
discrete element method
finite element method
phase field method

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 7504 KB

Open AccessArticle

Safety Management and Risk Evaluation for Coal Mine Operations Threatened by Karst Collapse Column Water Inrushes

by Yu Liu, Jiapeng Lu, Qimeng Liu, Jingzhong Zhu and Chongyan Liu

Processes 2026, 14(11), 1718; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14111718 - 25 May 2026

Abstract

Shallow coal resources are being gradually depleted, which has led to an increase in mining depth. However, the safe extraction of deep coal seams is increasingly threatened by limestone water hazards. When vertical hydraulic channels such as karst collapse columns (KCCs) develop in limestone strata, high-pressure water may flow into the mine, potentially causing substantial casualties and property losses. In this study, the 1613A stope of the Zhangji coal mine was investigated through comprehensive detection, grouting treatment, and prevention effect evaluation. A numerical model was established to simulate the dynamic changes in groundwater levels within the limestone aquifers throughout the process. The results reveal that a KCC is developed beneath the C₃³ stratum, exhibiting an oval shape with a length of 53 m and a width of 35 m in plan view. A combination of surface and underground methods, including exploration, treatment, verification, and reinforcement, has sealed the hydraulic pathway connected to the Ordovician limestone, thereby eliminating the threat of floor water inrush. These findings are of significant value for the application and dissemination of advanced regional control technologies for water hazards in coal mines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

29 pages, 9749 KB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Fault Geometric and Mechanical Parameters on Surrounding Rock Behavior in a Deep Fault-Crossing Roadway

by Qinzheng Wu, Danli Li, Hanwen Jia, Chao Peng and Baoqiang Pan

Processes 2026, 14(9), 1457; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14091457 - 30 Apr 2026

Viewed by 218

Abstract

Although fault-controlled instability of underground excavation has been widely studied, systematic analyses of how key fault geometric and mechanical parameters affect surrounding-rock behavior in deep hard-rock mine roadways remain limited. This study takes a deep roadway as the engineering background and uses numerical simulation to investigate the effects of fault thickness, fault dip angle, fault mechanical properties, and contact parameters on the initial deformation state, post-excavation deformation, and plastic-zone evolution of surrounding rock. The results indicate that the surrounding rock is already in a non-uniform initial state controlled by fault disturbance prior to excavation. Increasing fault thickness expands the initial high-deformation zone; fault dip angle mainly changes the spatial distribution pattern of the initial deformation field; and increasing either the fault mechanical parameters or the contact parameters reduces deformation concentration in the vicinity of the fault. After roadway excavation, deformation is mainly concentrated in the fault–roadway intersection zone, and roof deformation along the roadway axis shows distinct local peaks and an asymmetric distribution. The maximum roof deformation continues to increase with the increase of fault thickness (the deformation increases by 218% from 1 m to 5 m), and smaller fault dip angle conditions are prone to local large deformation. In contrast, higher fault mechanical parameters and contact parameters can both effectively suppress roof deformation, with the contact parameters exerting more significant control (as the contact parameter increased from C1 to C5, the maximum roof deformation decreased by approximately 75%). The plastic zone mainly develops at the fault–roadway intersection and is dominated by shear plasticity, accompanied by tensile plasticity. Increasing fault thickness significantly enlarges the plastic-zone volume and strengthens the shear-dominated failure characteristic; fault dip angle mainly controls the propagation direction and morphology of the plastic zone; and increasing the fault mechanical parameters and contact parameters both help reduce the extent of the plastic zone. These findings can provide a theoretical basis for zoned support design and differentiated stability control of roadways crossing faults in deep metal mines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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21 pages, 3708 KB

Open AccessArticle

Directional Presplitting Roof Cutting for Surface Subsidence Control in Extra-Thick Longwall Top-Coal Caving Under Thick Unconsolidated Overburden

by Hongsheng Wang and Wenrui Zhao

Processes 2026, 14(8), 1218; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14081218 - 10 Apr 2026

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 464

Abstract

Large-scale surface subsidence induced by extra-thick seam longwall top-coal caving (LTCC) is strongly amplified by thick unconsolidated overburden, posing serious serviceability risks to overlying linear infrastructure. Taking the S103 Provincial Highway above Panel 6118 in Inner Mongolia, China, as the engineering background, this study integrates theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and in situ monitoring to investigate the subsidence-control mechanism of directional presplitting roof cutting. The results show that roof cutting mitigates surface subsidence by reconstructing the overburden structural system and weakening the stress-transfer chain, thereby transforming key-stratum deformation from integral bending to segmented block movement and narrowing the subsidence-affected zone. An equivalent mining-depth model for subsidence-boundary convergence is proposed to characterize the inward migration of the subsidence-basin boundary under thick unconsolidated cover, and a segmented probability-integral model is developed to explain the kink-like high-gradient feature in the post-cut subsidence profile. Parametric simulations of roof-cutting positions (p = 0, 2, 4, …, 32 m) show that the most effective mitigation occurs in the range p = 4–12 m; using minimum–maximum highway subsidence together with profile flattening as the optimization criteria, the representative optimum is identified at p ≈ 10 m, for which the maximum highway subsidence is approximately 57 mm, about 76% lower than that in the non-cutting case. The results further indicate that, although roof cutting significantly reduces subsidence and deformation gradients, fissure localization and possible discontinuous deformation near the pre-split weak plane still require careful field monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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15 pages, 6296 KB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Coastal Water Electrical Resistivity Tomography for Stratigraphic Division Based on Mathematical Modeling and Experimental Data

by Yiqiang Ren, Vladimir Vasilievich Glazunov and Natalya Nikolaevna Efimova

Processes 2026, 14(8), 1211; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14081211 - 10 Apr 2026

Viewed by 479

Abstract

Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) serves as an auxiliary tool for marine engineering geological investigation. Through modeling, the effectiveness of this method was evaluated in areas affected by hydrological and underwater environmental changes, with a focus on the submarine geological structure in nearshore environments. The effects of pore water mineralization and cation exchange capacity on the resistivity of seabed sedimentary layers were investigated via rock physics modeling, and the corresponding relationship curves were obtained. Physical simulation experiments were also conducted to validate the rock physics modeling results. This process quantitatively analyzed the factors influencing the resistivity of nearshore seabed sediments, obtained the resistivity of each sedimentary layer, and interpreted the causes of resistivity variations. Resistivity models of different terrains were established for sandy clay seabed sediments with varying water salinities. The innovative use of submarine electrical resistivity tomography was proposed, and its feasibility and advantages were confirmed through numerical simulations. Field tests along the Baltic Sea coast demonstrated that, compared with previous methods, submarine electrical resistivity tomography offers higher resolution and improved exploration performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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29 pages, 2647 KB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Minimum Safe Thickness of Overlying Rock Waterproof Layer in Karst Tunnels Under Different Water Pressures

by Chun Liu, Yongchi Lian, Junsheng Du, Yiying Xiong, Heng Liu, Wenting Du and Yuruo Duan

Processes 2026, 14(8), 1204; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14081204 - 9 Apr 2026

Viewed by 388

Abstract

In karst tunnel engineering, water-filled cavities located above the tunnel crown, under the combined effects of excavation disturbance and hydraulic pressure, are prone to triggering water and mud inrush disasters. The thickness of the water-resisting rock layer is therefore a key factor controlling the stability of the surrounding rock. To address the difficulty in accurately characterizing the mechanical behavior of the crown of horseshoe-shaped tunnels using conventional circular plate or beam models, this study innovatively develops an explicit analytical model for the minimum safe thickness of the water-resisting rock layer based on clamped elliptical thin plate theory and Kirchhoff plate theory, incorporating the influence of cross-sectional geometry. Parametric sensitivity analysis indicates that both karst water pressure and tunnel crown height significantly amplify the required minimum safe thickness, whereas an increase in the tensile strength of the surrounding rock effectively reduces the thickness demand. Specifically, when the karst water pressure increases from 2.5 MPa to 4.5 MPa, the minimum safe thickness rises from 7.5 m to 10.0 m, showing an approximately linear growth trend. The analytical model is further validated through numerical simulations under different “water pressure–thickness” conditions. The results demonstrate that at the calculated recommended thickness, the surrounding rock achieves stable convergence after excavation. High tensile stress and elevated pore pressure zones are mainly concentrated near the tunnel crown, without the formation of through-going tensile failure. Engineering application indicates that the proposed model can provide a quantitative basis for the design of water-resisting rock layer thickness and the assessment of water inrush risk in karst tunnels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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17 pages, 10069 KB

Open AccessArticle

Geoelectric Response Characteristics of Leakage in Earth-Rock Dams Considering Reservoir Water Level Fluctuations: Numerical Simulation and In Situ Validation

by Xiaoyi Jiang, Shuhai Jiang, Binyang Sun, Lei Tan, Qimeng Li and Hu Xu

Processes 2026, 14(8), 1198; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14081198 - 9 Apr 2026

Viewed by 293

Abstract

Reservoir water level fluctuations alter the saturation line in earth-rock dams, thereby affecting the accuracy of electrical leakage detection. To quantitatively investigate this influence, a three-dimensional (3D) geoelectric model of a concentrated leakage pathway was constructed using COMSOL Multiphysics based on parameters from a reservoir in Zhejiang Province. Numerical simulations were performed under unsaturated, partially saturated, and fully saturated conditions with respect to the leakage zone, and a fixed-electrode monitoring system was deployed for in situ validation. The results show that 3D resistivity slices can approximately delineate the leakage hazard center. Under fully saturated conditions, the low-resistivity anomaly center shifts upward by 0.7 m. Under unsaturated conditions, the high-resistivity anomaly center shifts upward by 1.7 m. Under partially saturated conditions, the high-resistivity anomaly center exhibits the most pronounced upward shift (3.0 m). Notably, under partially saturated conditions, the boundary point between the high- and low-resistivity anomalies is located close to the central depth of the leakage pathway (deviation of approximately 0.7 m above the center), serving as a useful diagnostic indicator. In situ tests corroborate these findings, with identified anomaly zones matching the actual leakage points. This study provides a quantitative framework for interpreting geoelectrical data in earth-rock dams under fluctuating reservoir levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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26 pages, 10549 KB

Open AccessArticle

Macroscopic Failure Behavior and Crack Evolution of Random Fissured Sandstone: A Multi-Parameter Numerical Analysis

by Xiaowei Liu, Wenyao Yan, Li Zhang, Jiayuan Li, Yaoyao Meng, Xueliang Zhu, Feng Li and Yajuan Xin

Processes 2026, 14(7), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14071074 - 27 Mar 2026

Viewed by 286

Abstract

The presence of random fissures significantly alters the mechanical properties and failure mechanisms of rocks. To systematically investigate the impact of fissures on the failure behavior of sandstone, a multivariable random fissure numerical model was developed based on the Weibull distribution probability density function, in combination with a random fissure generation algorithm and cohesive element embedding method. This study primarily focuses on analyzing the influence of fissure ratio (R), fissure dip angle interval (A), fissure length interval (L), and fissure width interval (W) on the sandstone failure process. The results show that the failure modes change with variations in R, A, L, and W, specifically manifested as the formation of “X”-shaped, “Y”-shaped, or inverted “Y”-shaped primary cracks; the increase in fissure ratio significantly reduces both peak stress and total damage dissipated energy (ALLDMD), and promotes the propagation of tensile cracks; the increase in L leads to more complex failure patterns, but its effect on peak stress and peak strain fluctuates non-linearly, the ALLDMD remains insensitive to this change, while the number of tensile cracks decreases as L increases; conversely, an increase in W results in a failure mode characterized by a single crack path, the peak stress first increases and then decreases, and the ALLDMD exhibits an “N”-shaped fluctuation, though the overall variation is limited. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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28 pages, 16549 KB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanism and Control of Roadway Instability in Thick Oil Shale Roofs with “Weak Friction-Strong Cementation” Characteristics

by Hongsheng Wang, Lei Jia and Lei Li

Processes 2026, 14(5), 839; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14050839 - 4 Mar 2026

Viewed by 441

Abstract

Thick oil shale roofs in the Zichang mining area frequently suffer from delamination and sudden brittle fracture, compromising support stability. Using the 50117 return-air roadway as a case study, this paper integrates microstructural characterization (SEM-EDS/XRD), mechanical testing, theoretical interpretation, and FLAC3D simulation to elucidate the instability mechanism. Results indicate that the preferred orientation of clay minerals along bedding yields a “weak friction” signature, facilitating delamination. Simultaneously, the rigid quartz framework enables rapid energy storage, yet constrained bending dissipation triggers instantaneous fracture. This “weak friction-strong cementation” property drives the “delamination-brittle fracture” mechanism. Notably, the roof exhibits low principal stress concentration but extreme sensitivity to deviatoric stress, typifying a “low-stress environment and weak structural damage” behavior. Accordingly, a synergistic control technology featuring “high-prestress normal clamping and dowel shear resistance” was proposed. Field application confirmed its effectiveness in suppressing delamination and reducing rib convergence, thereby ensuring long-term roadway stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical Simulation for Engineering Safety: Applications in Engineering Field)

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