A global transition towards more sustainable, affordable and reliable energy systems is being stimulated by the Paris Agreement and the United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This poses a challenge for the corrosion industry, as building climate-resilient energy systems and infrastructures brings with it a long-term direction, so as a result the long-term behaviour of structural materials (mainly metals and alloys) becomes a major prospect. With this in mind “Corrosion Challenges Towards a Sustainable Society” presents a series of cases showing the importance of corrosion protection of metals and alloys in the development of energy production to further understand the science of corrosion, and bring the need for research and the consequences of corrosion into public and political focus. This includes emphasis on the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions, on the lifetime of infrastructures, implants, cultural heritage artefacts, and a variety of other topics.

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This paper discusses centrifuge modelling challenges when exploring the response of surface structures to tunnelling in sand. The model tunnel employed consists of an interior brass cylinder surrounded by water inside a sealed flexible latex lining. Prior to extracting water to simulate tunnelling volume loss, soil displacements obtained during centrifuge acceleration indicate that this flexible tunnel can lead to differential settlements during spin-up. These ground movements are triggered by a change of the tunnel shape due to a stress imbalance between the tunnel and the surrounding soil. Additionally, it was found that surface structures interact with the model tunnel during the spin-up, and thus can change the amount of differential surface settlements, depending on the structure location. As a consequence, some differential settlements may be imposed on the structures as the g-level increases. Results indicate the necessity to consider these effects when interpreting the results of the subsequent tunnelling simulation.@en