At present, many geoengineering activities have reached a depth of more than 1000 m, with some even reaching up to 4000m. There are a great number of geomechanical challenges faced in these mining engineering activities in the rock mass. Field monitoring in many hard rock mines has recorded dynamic failure phenomena such as rockburst, mine earthquakes, caving, and chamber instability. These dynamic hazards increase in frequency as mine depth increases, threatening the safety of construction workers and potentially causing substantial damage to the structure and equipment of the mine. The occurrence of these disasters makes deep engineering construction an extremely challenging problem.

Nowadays, although great effort has been dedicated in investigating and interpreting dynamic hazard phenomena, it is still difficult to accurately specify, evaluate, and prevent these accidents in deep mines due to the complex geological conditions, stress circumstances, and inducing factors. The traditional theories of rock mechanics, mining methods, and support technologies still lag behind engineering practice. In situations where deep resource exploitation has become the norm, it is necessary to conduct a systematic and in-depth study on the mechanisms of the above-mentioned disasters, and obtain dynamic disaster prediction methods as well as prevention means, so as to provide theoretical support and technical guarantees for the safe and efficient exploitation of deep resources.

The Special Issue focuses on advances in the most discussed areas of rock mechanics and rock engineering encompassing the fields of deep mining, tunneling, and geological engineering by means of theoretical analyses, numerical modeling, laboratory experiments, and in-situ investigations. We aim to provide a platform for experts and scholars in different fields related to rock excavation and engineering to report their new ideas, viewpoints, and findings. We welcome both original research and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Dynamic rock mechanical properties and fracture behavior in deep mining
• Advances in experimental rock dynamics
• Mechanisms and stability analysis theories of deep rock subjected to coupled static and dynamic stress conditions
• Interactions between rock and support under complex stress circumstances
• Innovative support techniques to withstand dynamic disasters in deep mining engineering
• Rock burst theory, prevention, and control in coal and metal mines