Multi-Physics Behavior of Cementitious Materials and Geomaterials under Extreme Environmental and Mechanical Loading

Cementitious materials and geomaterials are fundamental components of civil and geotechnical infrastructure systems and play a critical role in ensuring structural safety and long-term serviceability. In recent decades, these materials have been increasingly exposed to extreme environmental and mechanical loading conditions driven by climate change, urbanization, and evolving energy and transportation demands. Such conditions include elevated temperatures, freeze–thaw cycles, moisture variation, seismic excitation, and combined static–dynamic loading. The interaction among thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical processes often governs material degradation, damage accumulation, and failure behavior. Conventional single-physics approaches are frequently inadequate to capture these coupled effects, motivating the development of multi-physics experimental methods, constitutive models, and numerical simulations to better understand and predict material response under complex loading environments.The primary goal of this Research Topic is to address the limitations of conventional single-physics approaches in predicting the behavior of cementitious materials and geomaterials subjected to extreme environmental and mechanical loading. Under conditions such as elevated temperature, freeze–thaw cycling, seismic excitation, and coupled moisture–stress variations, material response is governed by complex interactions among thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical processes. These interactions often control damage initiation, fracture propagation, and long-term degradation but remain insufficiently understood and modeled.This Research Topic seeks to advance state-of-the-art knowledge by promoting integrated experimental, theoretical, and computational studies that capture coupled multi-physics mechanisms across multiple length and time scales. Recent advances in high-resolution testing techniques, multi-field constitutive modeling, numerical simulation, and data-driven methods provide new opportunities to improve predictive capability. By consolidating these developments, the collection aims to support more reliable assessment, design, and resilience of civil and geotechnical infrastructure exposed to extreme and evolving loading conditions.This Research Topic will also place a strong emphasis on advanced computational and numerical methodologies for geotechnical and structural systems. In particular, the Topic will highlight developments in multi-field and multi-scale modeling, coupled thermo–hydro–mechanical and chemo–mechanical formulations, hybrid and advanced finite element methods, and algorithmic innovations for complex material behavior under coupled physical processes. By foregrounding these method-oriented contributions while retaining an interdisciplinary perspective, the Topic aims to attract high-quality submissions that advance both fundamental computational frameworks and their application to resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, review papers, and methodological contributions addressing the multi-physics behavior of cementitious materials and geomaterials relevant to the built environment. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• thermo-hydro-mechanical and thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical coupling; • damage, fracture, and spalling under high-temperature or freeze–thaw conditions; • seismic and dynamic response influenced by environmental effects; • and experimental characterization under combined loading. Contributions on constitutive modeling, multi-scale or multi-field numerical methods, and validation using laboratory, field, or large-scale testing are particularly encouraged. Studies linking material behavior to infrastructure performance, durability, sustainability, and hazard resilience are strongly welcomed. Interdisciplinary submissions that bridge geotechnics, structural engineering, and materials science are also within the scope of this Research Topic. Topic editors: Toan Cao, Quyền Nguyễn, Golnaz Alipour Esgandani Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77663/multi-physics-behavior-of-cementitious-materials-and-geomaterials-under-extreme-environmental-and-mechanical-loading