Predicting residual compressive strength of self-compacted concrete under various temperatures and relative humidity conditions by artificial neural networks

Artificial neural network models can be successfully used to simulate the complex behavior of many problems in civil engineering. As compared to conventional computational methods, this popular modeling technique is powerful when the relationship between system parameters is intrinsically nonlinear, or cannot be explicitly identified, as in the case of concrete behavior. In this investigation, an artificial neural network model was developed to assess the residual compressive strength of self-compacted concrete at elevated temperatures (20-900 degrees C) and various relative humidity conditions (28-99%). A total of 332 experimental datasets, collected from available literature, were used for model calibration and verification. Data used in model development incorporated concrete ingredients, filler and fiber types, and environmental conditions. Based on the feed-forward back propagation algorithm, systematic analyses were performed to improve the accuracy of prediction and determine the most appropriate network topology. Training, testing, and validation results indicated that residual compressive strength of self compacted concrete, exposed to high temperatures and relative humidity levels, could be estimated precisely with the suggested model. As illustrated by statistical indices, the reliability between experimental and predicted results was excellent. With new ingredients and different environmental conditions, the proposed model is an efficient approach to estimate the residual compressive strength of self-compacted concrete as a substitute for sophisticated laboratory procedures.