A novel integrated approach of RUNge Kutta optimizer and ANN for estimating compressive strength of self-compacting concrete

In this study machine learning models are used that forecast the compressive strength of self-compacting concrete (SCC) depending on percentage replacement of cement by supplementary cementitious material. In order to predict the mechanical property of SCC, a hybrid artificial neural network (ANN) along with metaheuristic optimization techniques and two traditional models were employed which comprised of 300 datasets. Several input factors are employed in the modelling process, including cement, the water-binder ratio, coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, fly ash (FA) and the superplasticizer. ANN hybridised with RUNge Kutta optimizer (RUN) was chosen as one of the top predictive models based on coefficient of determination ((R2 = 0.933 (in training) and R2 = 0.9203 (in testing))) findings and model validation. According to the rank analysis, the ANN-RUN surpassed other models with a score of 128. Permutation feature importance, statistical analysis, and comparisons amongst regression models are used to determine the models' efficacy. The best input parameters were selected based on person correlation and density plot. Also, the use of Taylor diagrams and accuracy matrices was also examined for the visual comprehension of the data which has shown similar results as discussed above. The results show that the suggested machine learning models attained consistent accuracy and can be used as a robust technique to predict the compressive strength of SCC.