Gas explosions in underground infrastructure (mines, subways, etc.) can destroy facilities and cost lives. Such events cause the underground system to become completely disordered, which will lead to secondary disasters and heavy casualties. Therefore, the explosion-proof performance of underground infrastructure is crucial. Whether it can ensure the stability and integrity under the action of the explosion shock wave is of great safety significance to the lives of underground workers.

Based on the actual conditions of the confined underground space, the damage and damage mechanism of underground infrastructures under the impact of explosion loads need to be explored further. The core technical achievement is the research and acquisition of the reasonable anti-blast performance standard of such infrastructures to solve the issue of ‘blindness’ during the construction process.

In this context, this Special Issue aims to gather the latest developments in evaluating gas explosion loads and the structural response of underground infrastructure. Of interest are experimental, theoretical, computer simulation, and case studies that contribute towards understanding the progress in this field. Original research and review articles are welcome.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Stress and stability analysis of underground infrastructure under gas explosion loads using numerical techniques and/or mathematical models
• Clarifying the conditions for the generation and transformation of various shock waves caused by gas explosions in the confined underground space and describing the intensity and waveform characteristics of their propagation
• Revealing the dynamic response and damage mechanism of underground infrastructure under different explosion shock load modes
• Determining the key parameter criteria for the failure of underground infrastructure
• AI or machine learning applications in evaluating underground infrastructure damage after explosions