Centrifuge modelling of Dutch railway embankments on soft clays: the RESET experimental program

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4. Centrifuge modelling of Dutch railway embankments on soft clays: the RESET experimental program

In the Netherlands, railway embankments founded on soft clay are sensitive to progressive deformation and pore pressure development under increasing traffic demands. Within the Rail Embankment for Safe Expansion of Traffic (RESET) research programme, a centrifuge test series was conducted to generate a controlled experimental dataset describing embankment behaviour at failure conditions. Eight centrifuge tests were performed at 50g using a 1:50 scaling ratio. The testing -programme included systematic variation of clay undrained shear strength, embankment geometry, ditch presence, and loading rate. The clay foundation consisted of consolidated kaolin, and the embankment was constructed of dense sand. Loading was applied under displacement control using a rigid plate with rotational freedom to allow realistic load redistribution. The instrumentation programme combined global loaddisplacement measurements, total and pore water pressure monitoring, in-flight T-bar strength profiling, particle image velocimetry (PIV) for full-field deformation analysis, and post-test 3D surface scanning. The present contribution elaborates on the experimental configuration and principal observed response patterns, providing a benchmark dataset for future modelling and assessment studies.

International Conference on Advances and Innovations in Soft Soil Engineering (ICAISSE2026)

Infrastructure Performance and Monitoring