Conference Objectives

SFB 837 & EURO:TUN is a special event, merging the traditional EURO:TUN conference originally scheduled for 2021 and the SFB 837 workshop, where results from 12 years of experimental and numerical research of the Collaborative Research Center on Interaction Modeling in Mechanized Tunneling are presented. While the SFB 837 workshop takes a holistic view on mechanized tunneling, combining experimental and computational approaches, the EURO:TUN conference has a strong focus on computational methods and information models in tunneling. Previous successful EURO:TUN conferences have been organized as ECCOMAS Thematic Conferences (2007, 2009, 2013 & 2017).
SFB 837 & EURO:TUN aims to provide a forum for scientists, developers and engineers to review and discuss novel research findings and to assess the suitability and robustness of advanced computational methods and information models for the design, construction and maintenance of tunnels.

Computational methods and information models have experienced increasing application in the design and construction of underground infrastructure. Tunneling is characterized by a high degree of uncertainty and complex interactions between the tunneling process and its environment. In addition, new tunneling technologies and changing requirements for the construction of tunnels (e.g. larger diameters, tunneling in difficult ground conditions, safety concerns, life time prognoses) are constituting new challenges for adequate computational methods to be used for prognoses and decisions to be made in the design, construction, service and maintenance of tunnels. Information models and BIM concepts are increasingly used and combined with computational models for a seamless workflow in digital design and construction. These challenges need continuous research and new solutions in the field of information and computational modeling in tunneling.

Beyond advances in computational methods for the simulation of the logistics and construction processes of tunnels and model-based lining designs also applications of information modeling, sensing and monitoring technologies, methods of machine learning and big data analytics in tunneling and underground infrastructure will be topics of SFB 837 & EURO:TUN.

Conference Topics

SFB 837 & EURO:TUN will be concerned with innovative computational concepts and strategies for optimised design and construction of tunnels. Topics to be addressed are:

• integration of computational and information models for tunnel planning and design,
• machine-ground and soil-structure interaction,
• numerical models and experimental investigations of excavation, ground-tool interaction and face stability,
• process and logistics simulation,
• data driven modeling, machine learning, data mining, and expert systems in subsurface engineering,
• design of lining systems,
• multi-phase and multi-scale models for soils and rocks and the temporary and permanent support in tunneling,
• procedures for parameter identification, and methods of inverse analysis,
• sensitivity analysis, uncertainty modeling and risk analysis,
• other related topics.