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Preface
China University of Geosciences
Abstract

The second edition of ACES brings together interdisciplinary studies addressing emerging challenges in intelligent infrastructure, construction technology, built heritage, material behavior, energy-responsive buildings, and extraterrestrial engineering environments. The contributions demonstrate how retrieval-augmented and agentic large language models can support bridge operation and maintenance, construction quality assessment, and knowledge-driven engineering decision-making. Other studies examine the conservation and contemporary interpretation of traditional wooden architecture and urban industrial heritage landscapes, while investigations into lightweight building envelopes and grid-interactive commercial buildings explore energy performance and climate-responsive design. The volume also presents experimental and numerical analyses of fractured sandstone under water immersion and freeze-thaw conditions, together with research on thermal coring, water-vapor phase transitions, and oxygen production from lunar regolith. In addition, AI-IoT solutions for smart venues and urban traffic are discussed. Collectively, these studies illustrate the growing integration of artificial intelligence, experimental mechanics, heritage studies, energy systems, and space-resource engineering in the development of advanced and adaptable civil infrastructure.

Keywords

intelligent infrastructure; retrieval-augmented generation; large language models; bridge operation and maintenance; construction quality assessment; built heritage; industrial heritage landscapes; fracture mechanics; sandstone behavior; building energy performance; AI-IoT systems;

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