Geotechnical centrifuge modelling – current practice

Geotechnical centrifuge studies are used during the design of a growing range of structures, especially to study soil-structure interaction. They are particularly useful to both clients and design engineers when a new design concept or ground improvement process is proposed for which full-scale experience and performance data are lacking, when an unusual soil type or stratigraphy is encountered, and when soil properties evolve over time due to complex loading or changing environmental boundary conditions. The accelerated time scale that the centrifuge creates allows whole-life studies to be made that would be impossible by any other means.