• Composite Materials and Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.201-220
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• 2021

In this study, potential of three machine learning techniques i.e., M5P, Support vector machines and Gaussian processes were evaluated to find the best algorithm for the prediction of flexural strength of concrete mix with steel fibre. The study comprises the comparison of results obtained from above-said techniques for given dataset. The dataset consists of 124 observations from past research studies and this dataset is randomly divided into two subsets namely training and testing datasets with (70-30)% proportion by weight. Cement, fine aggregates, coarse aggregates, water, super plasticizer/ high-range water reducer, steel fibre, fibre length and curing days were taken as input parameters whereas flexural strength of the concrete mix was taken as the output parameter. Performance of the techniques was checked by statistic evaluation parameters. Results show that the Gaussian process technique works better than other techniques with its minimum error bandwidth. Statistical analysis shows that the Gaussian process predicts better results with higher coefficient of correlation value (0.9138) and minimum mean absolute error (1.2954) and Root mean square error value (1.9672). Sensitivity analysis proves that steel fibre is the significant parameter among other parameters to predict the flexural strength of concrete mix. According to the shape of the fibre, the mixed type performs better for this data than the hooked shape of the steel fibre, which has a higher CC of 0.9649, which shows that the shape of fibers do effect the flexural strength of the concrete. However, the intricacy of the mixed fibres needs further investigations. For future mixes, the most favorable range for the increase in flexural strength of concrete mix found to be (1-3)%.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.95-103
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• 2023

With the increasing number of aging buildings across Korea, emerging maintenance technologies have surged. One such technology is the non-contact detection of concrete cracks via thermal images. This study aims to develop a technique that can accurately predict the depth of a crack by analyzing the temperature difference between the crack part and the normal part in the thermal image of the concrete. The research obtained temperature data through thermal imaging experiments and constructed a big data set including outdoor variables such as air temperature, illumination, and humidity that can influence temperature differences. Based on the collected data, the team designed an algorithm for learning and predicting the crack depth using machine learning. Initially, standardized crack specimens were used in experiments, and the big data was updated by specimens similar to actual cracks. Finally, a crack depth prediction technology was implemented using five regression analysis algorithms for approximately 24,000 data points. To confirm the practicality of the development technique, crack simulators with various shapes were added to the study.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.277-292
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• 2023

Much of our experiments are designed to uncover the cause(s) and effect(s) behind a phenomenon (i.e., data generating mechanism) we happen to be interested in. Uncovering such relationships allows us to identify the true workings of a phenomenon and, most importantly, to realize and articulate a model to explore the phenomenon on hand and/or allow us to predict it accurately. Fundamentally, such models are likely to be derived via a causal approach (as opposed to an observational or empirical mean). In this approach, causal discovery is required to create a causal model, which can then be applied to infer the influence of interventions, and answer any hypothetical questions (i.e., in the form of What ifs? Etc.) that commonly used prediction- and statistical-based models may not be able to address. From this lens, this paper builds a case for causal discovery and causal inference and contrasts that against common machine learning approaches - all from a civil and structural engineering perspective. More specifically, this paper outlines the key principles of causality and the most commonly used algorithms and packages for causal discovery and causal inference. Finally, this paper also presents a series of examples and case studies of how causal concepts can be adopted for our domain.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.193-203
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• 2024

Existing reinforced concrete (RC) building frames constructed before the seismic design was applied have seismically deficient structural details, and buildings with such structural details show brittle behavior that is destroyed early due to low shear performance. Various reinforcement systems, such as fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jacketing systems, are being studied to reinforce the seismically deficient RC frames. Due to the step-by-step modeling and interpretation process, existing seismic performance assessment and reinforcement design of buildings consume an enormous amount of workforce and time. Various machine learning (ML) models were developed using input and output datasets for seismic loads and reinforcement details built through the finite element (FE) model developed in previous studies to overcome these shortcomings. To assess the performance of the seismic performance prediction models developed in this study, the mean squared error (MSE), R-square (R²), and residual of each model were compared. Overall, the applied ML was found to rapidly and effectively predict the seismic performance of buildings according to changes in load and reinforcement details without overfitting. In addition, the best-fit model for each seismic performance class was selected by analyzing the performance by class of the ML models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.625-637
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• 2023

The application of ML approaches in determining the resisting capacity of fire damaged RC columns is introduced in this paper, on the basis of analysis data driven ML modeling. Considering the characteristics of the structural behavior of fire damaged RC columns, the representative five approaches of Kernel SVM, ANN, RF, XGB and LGBM are adopted and applied. Additional partial monotonic constraints are adopted in modelling, to ensure the monotone decrease of resisting capacity in RC column with fire exposure time. Furthermore, additional suggestions are also added to mitigate the heterogeneous composition of the training data. Since the use of ML approaches will significantly reduce the computation time in determining the resisting capacity of fire damaged RC columns, which requires many complex solution procedures from the heat transfer analysis to the rigorous nonlinear analyses and their repetition with time, the introduced ML approach can more effectively be used in large complex structures with many RC members. Because of the very small amount of experimental data, the training data are analytically determined from a heat transfer analysis and a subsequent nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis, and their accuracy was previously verified through a correlation study between the numerical results and experimental data. The results obtained from the application of ML approaches show that the resisting capacity of fire damaged RC columns can effectively be predicted by ML approaches.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.257-271
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• 2024

During any construction involving mass concrete, it is crucial to control cracking during the placement and curing process. This study develops an intelligent cooling control system that regulates water temperature and flow based on concrete hydration heat, effectively preventing cracking in bridge construction. The system consists of hardware, a neural network-based control algorithm, and an information management system. An optimal cooling control strategy is proposed to dynamically regulate water flow and temperature, preventing cracking by utilizing real-time temperature data, target control curves, neural network algorithms, and cloud-based computing. The intelligent cooling control system has been successfully implemented in controlling cracking risks during bridge construction. It not only mitigates the risk but also provides a convenient management strategy for bridge construction projects. The optimal cooling control strategy ensures high accuracy and stability under unsupervised learning conditions. This intelligent cooling control system can be applied to similar constructions such as bridge, dam, and building that involve the use of mass concrete.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.63-86
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• 2024

Asphalt concrete (AC), is a mixture of bitumen and aggregates, which is very sensitive in the design of flexible pavement. In this study, the Marshall stability of the glass and carbon fiber bituminous concrete was predicted by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), and M5P Tree machine learning algorithms. To predict the Marshall stability, nine inputs parameters i.e., Bitumen, Glass and Carbon fibers mixed in 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 0:100 percentage (designated as 100GF:0CF, 75GF:25CF, 50GF:50 CF, 25GF:75CF, 0GF:100CF), Bitumen grade (VG), Fiber length (FL), and Fiber diameter (FD) were utilized from the experimental and literary data. Seven statistical indices i.e., coefficient of correlation (CC), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), relative absolute error (RAE), root relative squared error (RRSE), Scattering index (SI), and BIAS were applied to assess the effectiveness of the developed models. According to the performance evaluation results, Artificial neural network (ANN) was outperforming among other models with CC values as 0.9147 and 0.8648, MAE values as 1.3757 and 1.978, RMSE values as 1.843 and 2.6951, RAE values as 39.88 and 49.31, RRSE values as 40.62 and 50.50, SI values as 0.1379 and 0.2027 and BIAS value as -0.1 290 and -0.2357 in training and testing stage respectively. The Taylor diagram (testing stage) also confirmed that the ANN-based model outperforms the other models. Results of sensitivity analysis showed that the fiber length is the most influential in all nine input parameters whereas the fiber combination of 25GF:75CF was the most effective among all the fiber mixes in Marshall stability.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.43-51
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• 2024

Dynamic responses of nuclear power plant structure subjected to earthquake loads should be carefully investigated for safety. Because nuclear power plant structure are usually constructed by material of reinforced concrete, the aging deterioration of R.C. have no small effect on structural behavior of nuclear power plant structure. Therefore, aging deterioration of R.C. nuclear power plant structure should be considered for exact prediction of seismic responses of the structure. In this study, a machine learning model for seismic response prediction of nuclear power plant structure was developed by considering aging deterioration. The OPR-1000 was selected as an example structure for numerical simulation. The OPR-1000 was originally designated as the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP), and was re-designated as the OPR-1000 in 2005 for foreign sales. 500 artificial ground motions were generated based on site characteristics of Korea. Elastic modulus, damping ratio, poisson's ratio and density were selected to consider material property variation due to aging deterioration. Six machine learning algorithms such as, Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), were used t o construct seispic response prediction model. 13 intensity measures and 4 material properties were used input parameters of the training database. Performance evaluation was performed using metrics like root mean square error, mean square error, mean absolute error, and coefficient of determination. The optimization of hyperparameters was achieved through k-fold cross-validation and grid search techniques. The analysis results show that neural networks present good prediction performance considering aging deterioration.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.565-574
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• 2020

Over the years, several machine learning approaches have been proposed and utilized to create a prediction model for the high-performance concrete (HPC) slump flow. Despite HPC is a highly complex material, predicting its pattern is a rather ambitious process. Hence, choosing and applying the correct method remain a crucial task. Like some other problems, prediction of HPC slump flow suffers from abnormal attributes which might both have an influence on prediction accuracy and increases variance. In recent years, different studies are proposed to optimize the prediction accuracy for HPC slump flow. However, more state-of-the-art regression algorithms can be implemented to create a better model. This study focuses on several methods with different mathematical backgrounds to get the best possible results. Four well-known algorithms Support Vector Regression, M5P Trees, Random Forest, and MLPReg are implemented with optimum parameters as base learners. Also, redundant features are examined to better understand both how ingredients influence on prediction models and whether possible to achieve acceptable results with a few components. Based on the findings, the MLPReg algorithm with optimum parameters gives better results than others in terms of commonly used statistical error evaluation metrics. Besides, chosen algorithms can give rather accurate results using just a few attributes of a slump flow dataset.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.92 no.1
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• pp.65-79
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• 2024

This work aims to present an analysis of the structural reliability of reinforced concrete (RC) columns designed according to the general method outlined in Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1 2004). Probabilistic analyses are conducted by integrating the Monte Carlo method with metamodels (or surrogate models) generated using Kriging and some machine learning techniques. The study was developed based on an algorithm that verifies the columns subject to biaxial bending, considering the physical and geometric nonlinearities. Columns were analyzed assuming sign inversion of end bending moments (with reverse curvature), which portray the typical situations in conventional structures of RC buildings. The probabilistic results reveal that the typical RC columns in buildings designed according to the design procedures of the studied standard, whether they are located at the center, corner, or edge, exhibit reliability levels surpassing those deemed acceptable within the technical community. Furthermore, the integration of surrogate models proves beneficial by alleviating the computational burden associated with evaluations while preserving accuracy.