Abstract: During the construction of new shield tunnels adjacent to existing tunnels, the shield construction will cause deformation and damage to adjacent existing tunnels, the impact of shield construction on adjacent tunnels has become an urgent issue to be resolved, and model test is an important method to study this topic. This paper categorizes existing model tests into indoor scale tests and centrifugal tests. And then it studies different crossing and parallel construction methods, summarizes the impacts of shield construction on existing tunnels under different factors such as thrust, tunnel spacing, and crossing sequence, etc. Finally it compares existing tests and proposes further research ideas and directions, which shall provide a reference for future model test studies.