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Topic · Civil and Structural Engineering

Tunneling and Rock Mechanics

Tunneling and Rock Mechanics is a research topic within Civil and Structural Engineering. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 14.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the prediction of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) performance in hard rock conditions, utilizing rock mass properties, rock fragmentation, and machine learning techniques. It also includes research on risk assessment, numerical simulation, and the influence of geological conditions on TBM performance.

  • TBM
  • performance prediction
  • rock fragmentation
  • rock properties
  • hard rock condition
  • machine learning
  • risk assessment
  • rock cutting
  • geological conditions
  • numerical simulation
Research works
24k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
14.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+44%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Tunneling and Rock Mechanics research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.9k and 343 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 2.9k works
  2. 2 United States 343 works
  3. 3 India 232 works
  4. 4 Russia 150 works
  5. 5 Germany 140 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 119 works
  7. 7 Iran 116 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 106 works
  9. 9 Japan 98 works
  10. 10 Canada 90 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 67.2%United States: 8.1%India: 5.5%Russia: 3.5%6 others listed: 15.7%67%largest
China2,861 · 67.2%United States343 · 8.1%India232 · 5.5%Russia150 · 3.5%6 others listed670 · 15.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Tunneling and Rock Mechanics research?

By volume in 2022–2025, China University of Mining and Technology publishes the most Tunneling and Rock Mechanics research, followed by Central South University and Southwest Petroleum University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 143 works
  2. 2 Central South UniversityChina 95 works
  3. 3 Southwest Petroleum UniversityChina 84 works
  4. 4 China University of Petroleum, BeijingChina 62 works
  5. 5 Tongji UniversityChina 60 works
  6. 6 China National Petroleum Corporation (China)China 53 works
  7. 7 Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 53 works
  8. 8 Shandong UniversityChina 48 works
  9. 9 Northeastern UniversityChina 45 works
  10. 10 China Railway Group (China)China 43 works

Where is Tunneling and Rock Mechanics research done?

The largest centres of Tunneling and Rock Mechanics research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Chengdu (China), Wuhan (China) and Xuzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Xuzhou, Fuxin and Huainan.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 575 works
  2. 2 Chengdu China 213 works
  3. 3 Wuhan China 161 works
  4. 4 Xuzhou China 150 works
  5. 5 Shanghai China 146 works
  6. 6 Changsha China 130 works
  7. 7 Xi'an China 117 works
  8. 8 Qingdao China 101 works
  9. 9 Jinan China 95 works
  10. 10 Nanjing China 83 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. XuzhouCN · 149.7 works30×
  2. FuxinCN · 22.1 works23×
  3. HuainanCN · 34.1 works21×
  4. DhahranSA · 49.8 works20×
  5. JiaozuoCN · 26.0 works15×
  6. GoldenUS · 20.4 works14×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Tunneling and Rock Mechanics than the world average.

See Tunneling and Rock Mechanics on the map

Where is the best place to study Tunneling and Rock Mechanics?

Among universities, judged by research, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, China University of Mining and Technology and Central South University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.44%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals: 30, 24.9%China University of Mining and Technology: 143, 21.5%Central South University: 95, 27.8%Beijing Jiaotong University: 37, 34.7%Southwest Jiaotong University: 52, 26.9%Northeastern University: 45, 27.4%China University of Petroleum, Beijing: 62, 24.0%Chang'an University: 21, 23.1%Shandong University of Science and Technology: 43, 19.4%Southwest Petroleum University: 84, 14.7%Beijing Jiaotong Uni…Central South Univer…King Fahd University…China University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 70.624.9%15.9×30 +501.2%
2 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 64.221.5%33.1×143 +28.3%
3 Central South UniversityChina 63.327.8%10.6×95 -15.5%
4 Beijing Jiaotong UniversityChina 61.734.7%11.0×37 +6.1%
5 Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 59.926.9%12.5×52 +14.0%
6 Northeastern UniversityChina 59.227.4%9.5×45 +39.4%
7 China University of Petroleum, BeijingChina 58.624.0%29.0×62 +3.3%
8 Chang'an UniversityChina 58.423.1%10.3×21 +128.1%
9 Shandong University of Science and TechnologyChina 57.019.4%16.1×43 +71.2%
10 Southwest Petroleum UniversityChina 56.914.7%48.0×84 +39.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Tunneling and Rock Mechanics research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 44% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Tunneling and Rock Mechanics.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.