• Mechanical behaviors of railway ballast
• Soil improvement and stabilization
• Sustainable building concepts

• Soil Mechanics
• Geotechnology
• Sustainability
• Surveying
• Transportation

Journals articles (peer-reviewed):

1. Navaratnarajah, S. K., Mayuranga, H. G. S., and Venuja, S. (2022). Influence of type of sleeper–ballast interface on the shear behaviour of railway ballast: An experimental and numerical study. Sustainability, 14(24), 16384. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416384
2. Venuja, S., Mathiluxsan, S. and Nasvi, M. C. M., (2017). Geotechnical engineering properties of peat stabilized with a combination of fly ash and well graded sand. Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. 50(2), 21–27. http://doi.org/10.4038/engineer.v50i2.7249

Book chapters:

1. Venuja, S., Navaratnarajah, S. K., Bandara, C. S., & Jayasinghe, J. A. S. C. (2023). Experimental and numerical study on the shear-strain behavior of ballast with different gradations. ICSBE 2022, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Springer Nature, 362, 245-254. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3471-3_18
2. Venuja, S., Navaratnarajah, S. K., Jayawardhana, W. R. R., Wijewardhana, P. H. L., Nirmali, K., and Sandakelum, M. A. M. (2022). Numerical study on the shear behaviour of railway ballast using discrete element method, ICSECM2021, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Springer Nature, Vol. 266, 231-240. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2886-4_17
3. Venuja, S., Navaratnarajah, S. K., Wickramasinghe, T. H. V. P., and Wanigasekara, D. S. A. (2021). A laboratory investigation on the advancement of railway ballast behavior using artificial inclusions, ICSBE2020, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Springer Nature, Vol. 174, 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4412-2_5
4. Venuja, S., Navaratnarajah, S. K., Bandara, C. S., and Jayasinghe, J. A. S. C. (2020). Review on geosynthetic inclusions for the enhancement of ballasted rail tracks, ICSECM 2019, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Springer Nature, Vol. 94, 459-468. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7222-7_38

Conference/ symposium papers:

1. Venuja, S. and Navaratnarajah, S. K. (2022). A current study on ballasted rail tracks in Sri Lanka. Annual Transactions 2022, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka - Vadakkin Chapter, pp. 150-155.
2. Navaratnarajah, S. K., Mayuranga, H. G. S., and Venuja, S. (2022). Shear behavior and Permeability of rail track ballast fouled by the infiltration of finer particles. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Engineering, University of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka, pp. 66-72.
3. Navaratnarajah, S. K. and Venuja, S. (2021). Shear and degradation behavior of rail track ballast contaminated with fines: An experimental study. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, Colombo, Sri Lanka, pp. 122-126.
4. Venuja, S. and Navaratnarajah, S. K. (2021). Influence of geosynthetic and rubber inclusions on shear and breakage behavior of rail track ballast. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, Colombo, Sri Lanka, pp. 155-160.
5. Venuja, S. and Navaratnarajah, S. K. (2021). Analysis of shear and degradation behaviour of fresh and fouled rail track ballast using large-scale direct shear test. Transactions 2021, Part B, 114th Annual Session, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, pp. 22 (1-7).
6. Navaratnarajah, S. K., Venuja, S., Shahmi, N. M., and Rimas, N. M. (2019). Influence of fine materials on stress-strain and degradation behavior of railway ballast under static loading conditions. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction Management, Kandy, Sri Lanka, Vol. 2, pp. 82-88.
7. Venuja, S. and Mathiluxsan, S. (2017). Geotechnical engineering properties of fly ash and well graded sand treated peat. Proceedings of the Geotechnical Engineering Project Day 2017, Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society, pp. 29-32.
8. Mathiluxsan, S., Venuja, S., and Nasvi, M. C. M. (2016). Compressibility behavior of peat stabilized with low Calcium fly ash: An experimental study. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 7, pp. 86-90.

Extended Abstracts:

1. Venuja, S. and Navaratnarajah, S. K. (2023). ‘Experimental studies on the mechanical behavior of fouled ballast using large-scale testing’. Proceedings of the 27th Annual Technological Advances in Science, Medicine and Engineering Conference, TASME 2023, Toronto, Canada.
2. Venuja, S., Navaratnarajah, S. K., Bandara, C. S., and Jayasinghe, J. A. S. C. (2021). ‘Insertion of geogrid to the ballast layer to improve rail track performance’. Proceedings of Peradeniya University International Research Sessions, iPURSE 2021, Kandy, Sri Lanka, Vol. 23, p 451.
3. Navaratnarajah, S. K., Mayuranga, H. G. S., and Venuja, S. (2021). ‘Large-scale testing facilities to study the stress-strain, degradation and drainage behaviours of railway ballast’. Proceedings of Peradeniya University International Research Sessions, iPURSE 2021, Kandy, Sri Lanka, Vol. 23, p 452.

• Bronze medal (2nd runner up in the National Level) in the prestigious 3 minutes thesis (3MT) competition, organized by the Young Scientists' Association of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (20th June 2023)
• Received the full scholarship to conduct the Doctoral Degree under AHEAD operation funded by the World Bank at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya
• Thurairajah Memorial Prize for the Best Performance in Geotechnics at the Convocation held at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (25th May 2017)