ISSN: 2345 -3109

RCEE
Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering
www.jrcee.com
Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

Prediction Of Slump And Compressive Strength Of Concrete Containing

Foundry Sand
Aggarwal Paratibha*, Aggarwal Yogesh, Grover Kapil, subzar ahmad bhat
Civil Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra- 136118, India.
Keywords

A B S T R A C T

concrete mixes

Concrete mix design is a process of proportioning of ingredients in right

quantities. Although it is based on sound technical principles and heuristics,
the entire process is not in the realm of science and precise mathematical
calculations. This paper demonstrates the applicability of Artificial Neural
Networks (ANN) and Fuzzy Logic Model for approximate proportioning of
concrete mixes with Foundry Sand. For ANN, a trained back propagation
neural network model and fuzzy set models are developed to learn
experimental data to predict 28-day compressive strength and slump flow,
containing 43 concrete mixtures. Inputs of the Fuzzy Logic model and ANN
model are cement, water, foundry sand, super plasticizer, water cement
ratio, sand (designated as fine aggregate) and coarse aggregate. Outputs are
28-day concrete compressive strength and slump flow for different models.

foundry sand
Testing
artificial neural networks
fuzzy logic

INTRODUCTION

The tremendous growth in production and manufacturing sectors in many countries has led to the
increased output of industrial wastes. For so many decades, these wastes were mainly disposed on site or
land filled, without any proper management. But now proper disposal of these industrial wastes is
required. One such waste product is foundry sand i.e. waste product of foundry industry. It is a discarded
material, coming from ferrous and nonferrous metal-casting industry. Its a mixture of high quality sizespecific silica sand, some amount of impurity of ferrous and nonferrous by-products from the metal casting
process itself and a variety of binders.
Artificial intelligence has proven its capability in simulating and predicting the behaviour of the different
physical phenomena in most of the engineering fields. Artificial intelligence is receiving greater attention
from the building industry to aid in the decision-making process in areas such as diagnostics, design, and
repair and rehabilitation. In civil engineering, design of concrete mix is difficult and sensitive. The classical

Corresponding author (e-mail: paratibha@rediffmail.com).

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

way for the determination of concrete mix design is based on uncertainty and depends on expert ideas.
Concrete production is a complex process that involves the effect of several processing parameters on the
quality control of concrete pertaining to workability, strength etc. These parameters are all effective in
producing a single strength quantity of compressive strength. Human experts perform the design of
concrete mix, and the design process is not amenable to precise mathematical formulations. It is practically
impossible to achieve the design strength of the mix in the field and what is realized in the field is only
somewhere near the design strength. This is due to the uncertain behaviour of the constituent materials,
the impreciseness and vagueness in various parameters involved in the design, and approximations in codal
guidelines. Since the experimental work needs a lot of effort, time and money, the need for utilizing new
artificial intelligence methodologies and techniques to reduce this effort, save time and money (and at the
same time preserving high accuracy) is urged. Due to this, the process of mix design turns out to be
approximate. It is thus essential to formulate an approximate procedure of mix design in a way that is more
natural, humanistic, and more scientific. The potential of ANN and Fuzzy logic really lies here. ANN and
Fuzzy logic allows the use of systematic mathematical formulations for investigating and characterizing
different types of uncertain problems. These are best suited when a fully descriptive mathematical model
of the process does not exist, or is formulated in such a way that is too complex to be evaluated fast
enough for real time operations, or is too difficult to encode. The present study demonstrates the
applicability of artificial intelligence techniques for approximate proportioning of concrete mixes with
Foundry Sand. For ANN a trained back propagation neural network and fuzzy set is integrated in the model
to learn experimental data containing 43 concrete mixtures. Input fields of both cases are cement, water,
foundry sand, super plasticizer, water cement ratio, sand and coarse aggregate. Output is 28-day concrete
compressive strength and slump.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Used foundry sand represents the highest amount of solid wastes generated by foundries. As WFS is
basically a fine aggregate, regular sand is generally replaced with different percentages (0%, 10%, 20%,
30%, 40%, etc.) of WFS and fresh and hardened properties of concrete are investigated. Many authors have
reported the use of used-foundry sand in various cementious compositions. Monosi et al. (2010) studied
the properties of mortars and concretes containing different dosages of used foundry sand (UFS) as partial
replacement of sand, investigating both fresh and hardened properties. Mortar specimens were
manufactured by replacing the 10%, 20%, and 30% by weight of natural sand with UFS and concrete
specimens were manufactured by replacing the 7-10% of the whole aggregate weight, which corresponded
to replacement of about the 20-30% of the sand weight only, with UFS. The results of both mortars and
concretes showed that UFS reduced the workability when added as natural sand replacement (at same
w/c); higher amount of superplasticizer was required in order to maintain the same workability. Mechanical
performances of mortars containing UFS at water cement ratio equal to 0.5, showed a compressive
strength lower by about 20-30% compared to that of the reference mix. Same percentage could be reached
in concrete at the same water cement ratio. Drying shrinkage increased with the decrease of mechanical
performances. Kraus et al. (2007) described the use of coal ash, wood ash, and used foundry sand in
concrete. Three types of sand were used for the concrete mixtures, clean (unused) foundry sand, used
foundry sand, and typical concrete sand. Eleven concrete mixtures were developed. A reference mixture
without a by-product material was proportioned to attain a compressive strength of 31 MPa at the age of
28 days. Four mixtures were proportioned to contain used or clean foundry sand as a replacement of 20 to
40% regular concrete sand. The remaining six mixtures were proportioned with used or clean foundry sand
as a replacement of concrete sand, and with Class C fly ash as an additional cementitious material. The
results showed that the compressive strength of concrete was not greatly influenced by inclusion of used or
clean foundry sand as a replacement of up to 40% concrete sand. The compressive strength of the
reference mixture ranged from approximately 23.1 MPa at 3 days to 39.5 Mpa at 182 days. The
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compressive strengths of concrete mixtures containing up to 40% foundry sand without fly ash varied from
21.6 to 25.9 MPa at 3 days to 38.5 to 43.2 MPa at 182 days. Siddique et al. (2011) studied concrete mixes
with used-foundry (UFS) sand as partial replacement of fine aggregates for various mechanical. Durability of
the concrete regarding resistance to chloride penetration, and carbonation was also investigated. Seven
mixes were made with various percentages of foundry sand ranged from 0% to 60% at the increment of
10%. The result showed a marginal decrease in the compressive strength of concrete mixes with the
inclusion of foundry sand as replacement of regular sand. The maximum strength was obtained at 30%
foundry sand in the replaced mixes and was more than control mix. Basar et al. (2012) studied potential reuse of waste foundry sand (WFS) in ready-mixed concrete (RMC). Three aspects investigated were
mechanical, leaching and micro-structural properties. Five concrete specimens were prepared using 0% to
40% WFS as replacement of regular sand. The control mix (without WFS) was proportioned to have a 28day cube compressive strength of 37 MPa. The results showed that compressive strength of all concrete
mixtures increased with age. Increased proportions of replaced WFS resulted in a reduction in compressive
strength due to the higher surface area of fine particles which led to the reduction of the water cement gel
in matrix, hence; no convenient binding of aggregates with cement paste could be carried out.
Nevertheless, the concrete with and up to 20% WFS exhibited almost similar results to that of the control
one. The variation in the tensile splitting strength with WFS addition was similar to that observed in the
case of the compressive strength. It was observed that micro-structural properties and morphological
characterization of both control mix and concrete mix having 20% WFS was almost same. Results of the
investigation suggested that WFS can be effectively utilized in making good quality RMC as a partial
replacement of fine aggregates with no adverse mechanical, environmental and micro-structural impacts
upto 20% partial replacements. Singh & Siddique (2012b) studied the abrasion resistance and strength
properties of concrete containing waste foundry sand (WFS). Control mixture (M-1) was proportioned to
have 28-day compressive strength of 40 MPa and four additional concrete mixtures (M-2, M-3, M-4, and M5) were proportioned where sand (fine aggregate) was replaced with 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% WFS by mass
respectively. Result showed continuous improvement in mechanical properties up to the ages of 365 days.
At 28 days compressive strength of concrete increased by 8.2517%, splitting tensile strength by 3.55
10.40% and modulus of elasticity by 1.676.35%, depending upon the WFS content. Inclusion of WFS as
sand replacement significantly improved the abrasion resistance of concrete at all ages. Results have
indicated that concrete made with (up to 15%) WFS could suitably be used for making structural concretes,
as well as for applications where abrasion is also important parameter. Singh & Siddique (2012a)
investigated the strength and durability properties of concrete mixtures, in which natural sand was partially
replaced with (WFS). Five concrete mixtures (M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-5) were made by replacement of
fine aggregate with WFS ranged from 5% to 20%. It was observed that concrete mixtures with WFS
exhibited higher compressive strength than control concrete. From these results, it was found that 28 day
compressive strength increased by 8.25%, 12.25%, 17% and 13.45% for mixtures M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-5
respectively than control mixture M-1. The results shows partial replacement of sand with WFS (up to 15%)
increases the strength properties of concrete. WFS could be suitably used in making structural grade
concrete. Siddique et al. (2009) gave the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the
mechanical properties of concrete mixtures in which regular sand was partially replaced with used-foundry
sand (UFS). Four concrete mixture proportions were made. First was the control mix (without UFS) and the
other three mixtures contained UFS. The proportions of fine aggregate replaced were 10%, 20% and 30%.
The control mixture without UFS has a 28-day cube compressive strength of 28.5 MPa. At 28-day,
Compressive strength shows an increase of 4.2%, 5.2% and 9.8% in comparison with the strength of control
mixture M-1 (0% UFS). 28-day splitting-tensile strength of control mixture M-1 (0% UFS) was 2.75 MPa,
with other mixes showing a marginal increase of 3.6%, 5.4%, and 9% in comparison with the strength of the
control mixture M-1. Khatib et al. (2010) investigated different properties of concrete containing waste
foundry sand (WFS) using six mixtures. The control mix (M1) and in mixtures M2-M6, the sand was replaced
with 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% WFS (by mass) respectively. The results shows there is systematic loss
in workability as the foundry sand content increases. The slump dropped approximately in a linear manner
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from 200mm for the control mix (0% WFS) to zero for mix containing 80% and 100% WFS as replacement of
sand. The compressive strength of concrete also decreased with increasing amounts of WFS. This decrease
was systematic in that the strength of the control mix (0% WFS) is 43.6 N/mm2. At 60% WFS, the strength
dropped to 32.9 N/mm2 and at 100% WFS the strength is nearly half of that of the control. Researchers
have applied various artificial intelligence techniques to predict various properties of concrete. Mostafa A.
M. Abdeen & Hossam Hodhod used Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique to investigate and predict
the behaviour of concrete (slump and concrete compressive strength) for different mix proportions at
different ages for the two types of cement and further predict the concrete behaviour for different mix
proportions at ages rather than those investigated in the experimental work. Nataraja et al. (2006)
designed a fuzzy-neuro model for normal concrete mix design using soft computing concept of fuzzy logic
and neural sets. The results in terms of quantities of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, and water
obtained through the present method for various grades of standard concrete mixes were in good
agreement with those obtained by the prevalent conventional methods. Abdullahi et al. (2008) reviewed
expert systems for concrete mix design. For developed expert systems, mix design codes were derived from
data obtained from experience with concrete materials. Tesfamariam and Najjaran (2007) designed
adaptive neuro-fuzzy inferencing system to train a fuzzy model and estimate concrete strength. The
efficiency of the proposed method was verified using actual concrete mix proportioning datasets, and the
corresponding coefficient of determination R2 range from 0.970.99. A sensitivity analysis was carried out
to highlight the impact of different mix constituents on the estimate concrete strength.

ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS (ANNs)

ANNs are based on the present understanding of the biological nervous system, though much of the
biological detail is neglected. ANNs are massively parallel systems composed of many processing elements
connected by links of variable weights. Of the many ANN paradigms, the multi-layer back propagation
network is by far the most popular .The basic element of a neural network is the artificial neuron which is
actually the mathematical model of a biological neuron. A biological neuron is made up of four main parts:
dendrites, synapses, axon and the cell body. ANNs are data processing paradigms made up of highly
interconnected nodes, called neurons. Even though there are various types of neural networks they differ
in the architecture and the learning rules. A multilayer feed-forward ANN model is the most commonly
used architecture for its efficient generalization capabilities
In the most general sense, the neural network is created for two different phases. The first phase is the
training phase and the second phase is the testing (simulation) phase. ANNs have the ability of performing
with a good amount of generalization from the patterns on which they are trained. Training consists of
exposing the neural network to a set of known inputs and output. Several methods do exist to train a
network. One of the most successful and widely used training algorithms for multi-layered perceptron
(MLP) is the back propagation. Back propagation neural networks generally have a layered structure with
an input, an output, and one or more hidden layers. The modification process is continued in the output
layer, where the error between the network outputs and desired targets is calculated, and then propagated
back to the network through a learning mechanism. The generalized delta rule is a widely used learning
mechanism in back- propagation neural networks. The implementation of such algorithm updates the
network weights in the direction, in which the performance function decreases most rapidly (reduces the
total network error in the direction of the steepest descent of error).
The network as shown in fig. 1 consists of layers of parallel processing neuron elements with each layer
being fully connected to the proceeding layer by interconnection strengths, or weights. Fig. 2 illustrates a
three-layer neural network consisting of layers i, j and k; input layer, hidden layer and output layer,
respectively, with the interconnection weights Wij and Wjk between layers of neurons. Initially estimated
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weight values are progressively corrected during a training process that compares predicted outputs with
known outputs, and back propagates any errors (from right to left in Fig. 2) to determine the appropriate
weight adjustments necessary to minimize the errors. Many applications of neural networks in civil and
structural engineering are available.

Fig 1 Simplified model of an artificial neuron.

Fig 2 A typical ANN topology with n input

nodes, m and y hidden nodes, and t output nodes

Back propagation artificial neural network models were trained in the study with the data from
experiments done on Concrete Mixes with Foundry Sand. Back propagation ANNs are very powerful and
versatile networks that can be taught mapping from one data space to another using a representative set
of patterns/examples to be learned. The term back propagation network actually refers to a multilayered; feed-forward neural network trained using an error back propagation algorithm. The connection
weights in the back propagation ANNs are initially selected at random. Inputs from the mapping examples
are propagated forward through each layer of the network to emerge as outputs. The errors between those
outputs and the correct answers are then propagated backwards through the network and the connection
weights are individually adjusted to reduce the error. After many examples (training patterns) have been
propagated through the network many times, the mapping function is learned with some specified error
tolerance. This is called supervised learning because the network has to be shown the correct answers for it
to learn. The learning process performed by this algorithm is called back propagation learning which is
mainly an error minimization technique.

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FUZZY LOGIC

Fuzzy logic is an approach to computing based on "degrees of truth" rather than the usual "true or false"
(1 or 0) Boolean logic on which the modern computer is based. . Fuzzy logic has been extended to handle
the concept of partial truth, where the truth value may range between completely true and completely
false. Furthermore, when linguistic variables are used, these degrees may be managed by specific
functions. The idea of fuzzy logic was first advanced by Dr. Lotfi Zadeh of the University of California at
Berkeley in the 1960s. Dr. Zadeh was working on the problem of computer understanding of natural
language. Natural language (like most other activities in life and indeed the universe) is not easily translated
into the absolute terms of 0 and 1. (Whether everything is ultimately describable in binary terms is a
philosophical question worth pursuing, but in practice much data we might want to feed a computer is in
some state in between and so, frequently, are the results of computing.) Fuzzy logic includes 0 and 1 as
extreme cases of truth (or "the state of matters" or "fact") but also includes the various states of truth in
between. Fuzzy logic seems closer to the way our brains work. We aggregate data and form a number of
partial truths which we aggregate further into higher truths which in turn, when certain thresholds are
exceeded, cause certain further results such as motor reaction. A similar kind of process is used in artificial
computer neural network and expert systems. It may help to see fuzzy logic as the way reasoning really
works and binary or Boolean logic is simply a special case of it.

FUZZY LOGIC INTERFACE

In fuzzy inference system, there are 5 steps such as fuzzy inputs, combination of inputs with AND (OR)
method, implication, aggregation of all outputs and defuzzification. In the mentioned steps, steps "2 to 5"
have different methods. In other word, step 2 uses four methods for AND (min and product) and OR (max
and probability OR) logical operations, step 3 has two methods (min and product), step 4 contains three
methods (max, sum and probability OR) and steps 5 includes five methods (centroid, bisector, mom, lom
and som). The steps 4 and 5 are important in deduction. Furthermore, we should know about the
properties and influence of the methods used to reach robust and accurate results. Therefore, in this paper,
some methods used for aggregation and defuzzification are studied based on the designed fuzzy inference
systems to predict the compressive strength of concrete.
In the design of a fuzzy logic controller, system adjustments are handled by a Mamdanis fuzzy inference
method. Mamdanis method, proposed in 1975 by Ebrahim Mamdani, was among the first control systems
built using fuzzy set theory, and is the most commonly used fuzzy methodology. It was an attempt to
control a steam engine and a boiler by synthesizing a set of linguistic control rules obtained from
experienced human operators. Mamdanis effort was based on Lotfi Zadehs 1973 paper on fuzzy
algorithms for complex systems and decision processes.
Fuzzy logic is almost synonymous with the theory of fuzzy sets, a theory which is related to a class of
objects with un-sharp boundaries, in which membership is a matter of degree. A membership function is a
curve that defines how each point in the input space is mapped to a membership value (or degree of
membership) between 0 and 1. The point of fuzzy logic is to map an input space to an output space, and
the primary mechanism for doing this is a list of IFTHEN statements, called rules. Mamdani fuzzy logic
involves using membership functions for both the inputs and the outputs. Fuzzy logic IFTHEN rules are
formed by applying fuzzy operations to these membership functions for given inputs. The resulting output
membership functions are added together using desired weights yielding a sort of Probability function. This
function can then be used to estimate the expected value of the output variable. We will adopt the
knowledge-based approach, which consists of the following components:
Data: contain knowledge used to characterize fuzzy control rules and fuzzy data manipulation in a
fuzzy logic controller, which are defined based on experience and engineering judgment of an expert. In
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this case, an appropriate choice of the membership functions of a fuzzy set plays a crucial role in the
success of an application. Input data are: cement, water, foundry sand, water cement ratio, and super
plasticizers, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate. Output data are slump and compressive strength.
Rule: characterized by the construction of a set of linguistic rules based on an experts knowledge. The
experts knowledge is usually in the form of cause and effect, i.e. IFTHEN. Fuzzy statements can thus easily
implement this. This system includes 897 rules. Results with 897 rules tend to the experts idea and
laboratory results. Five linguistic values for the fuzzy system are defined as follows:
VL = Very low value,
L = Low value,
M = Medium value,
H = High value, and
VH = Very high value.
All the information for a given fuzzy inference system (FIS) is contained in the FIS structure, including
variable names, membership function definitions, etc. The membership function plots for cement, water
foundry sand, super plasticizer, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate. These are the main parameters in this
fuzzy logic modelling. These datasets were employed in the design of the rule base for the fuzzy Logic
Controller.

Experimental detail

6.1 Material used

Table 1 Types of material used.
Researchers
Name
Monosi et al.
(2010)

No. of
Data

Cement

Fine
Aggregate
natural
sand
(4 mm)
natural
sand
(4.75 mm)
natural
sand (4.75
mm)
natural
sand
(4 mm)
natural
sand
(4.75 mm)
natural
sand
(4.75 mm)

Coarse
Aggergate
22 mm
maximum
size
20 mm
maximum
size
20 mm
maximum
size
maximum
size 12 mm
and 22.5 mm

Foundry Sand

Portland-limestone blended
cement
(density of 3100 kg/m3)

Kraus et al.
(2007)

Portland cement

Siddique et al.
(2011)

Portland Pozzolana Cement

(53 MPa)

Basar et al.
(2012)

Ordinary Portland cement

Portland pozzolana cement

(Specific gravity 3.07)

Portland pozzolana (fly ash

based) cement
(Specific gravity 2.9)

Ordinary Portland (43 grade)

cement

natural
sand
(4.75 mm)

maximum
size of 10
mm and 20
mm

Locally available
(Specific gravity
2.2)

melamine-based

Portland cement

natural
sand
(4.75 mm)

10 mm
nominal size

Locally available

Singh &
Siddique
(2012b)
Singh &
Siddique
(2012a)
Siddique et al.
(2009)

Khatib et al.
(2010)

155

12.5 mm
nominal size
maximum
size 12.5 mm

Locally available
(specific weight
2260 kg/m3)
Locally available
(Specific gravity
2.44)
Locally available
(specific gravity
2.61)
Locally available
(density (kg/m3)
2510)
Locally available
(Specific gravity
2.18)
Locally available
(Specific Gravity
2.18)

Super Plasticizer
acrylic based

polycarboxylic
ether based
melamine-based
Polycarboxylate
based
Polycarboxylate
based

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6.2 Application of ANN using Software

The multilayer perceptron approach has been used for developing of model. In the study the neural
network is using back propagation training algorithm in this study.. Back propagation is common method
of training artificial neural networks so as to minimize the objective function. It is a supervised learning
method and a generalization of the Delta rule. The activation function used is the log-sigmoidal function. A
sigmoid curve is produced by a mathematical function having an "S" shape. Often, sigmoid function refers
to the special case of the logistic function shown below (fig. 3) and defined by the formula:
S (t) = 1 / (1+e-t)

Figure 3 Logistic Curve

The test mode which is used in this model is 10-fold Cross-validation. In k-fold cross-validation, the
original sample is randomly partitioned into k subsamples. Of the k subsamples, a single sub sample is
retained as the validation data for testing the model, and the remaining k 1 sub samples are used as
training data. The cross-validation process is then repeated k times (the folds), with each of the k
subsamples used exactly once as the validation data. The k results from the folds then can be averaged (or
otherwise combined) to produce a single estimation. The following parameters (main) are considered in a
MLP function:
Learning Rate -- The amount the weights are updated. The learning rate for slump and compressive
strength are 0.3 and 0.273 respectively.
Momentum -- Momentum applied to the weights during updating. The momentum applied for
slump and compressive strength are 0.2 and 0.273 respectively
Nominal To Binary Filter -- This will preprocess the instances with the filter. This could help improve
performance if there are nominal attributes in the data. The nominal to binary filter taken as true for both
the cases.
Normalize Attributes -- This will normalize the attributes. This could help improve performance of
the network. This is not reliant on the class being numeric. This will also normalize nominal attributes as
well (after they have been run through the nominal to binary filter if that is in use) so that the nominal
values are between -1 and 1. The normalize attributes taken as true for both the cases.
Training Time -- The number of epochs to train through. If the validation set is non-zero then it can
terminate the network early. The training time for slump and compressive strength are 530 and 1800
respectively.

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6.3 APPLICATION OF FUZZY LOGIC

Fuzzy set theory by itself is a huge field that includes fuzzy measure theory, fuzzy topology, fuzzy
algebra, fuzzy analysis, etc. Only a small portion of fuzzy set theory has been applied to engineering
problems. In this set, the above database is used to predict the slump and 28 days compressive strength for
the concrete. Fuzzy modelling is a system identification task, which involves two phases: structure
identification and parameter prediction. Structure identification contains the issues like selecting relevant
input variables, choosing a specific type of FIS, determining the number of fuzzy rules, their antecedents
and consequents, and determining the type and number of membership functions. Parameter prediction is
determination of aimed values response to evident input values of constituted model. In the study 43 data
results were used in the processes of mamdani type fuzzy interference model in the FL system. Training
means to present the network with the experimental data and have it learn, or modify its weights, such
that it correctly reproduces the strength behaviour of mix. However, training the network successfully
requires many choices and training experiences. With the study it has been observed that an individual's
membership in a fuzzy set may admit some uncertainty. Therefore, it is said that its membership is a matter
of degree of association. Alternatively, it is said that the degree of membership of an individual in a fuzzy
set expresses the degree of compatibility of the individual with the concept represented by the fuzzy set.
Each fuzzy set is uniquely defined by a membership function. The concept of membership function is very
important in fuzzy set theory. There are two approaches to determining a membership function. The first
approach is to use the knowledge of human experts. Because fuzzy sets are often used to formulate human
knowledge, membership functions represent a part of human knowledge. Usually, this approach can only
give a rough formula of the membership function and fine-tuning is required. The second approach is to
use data collected from various sensors to determine the membership function. Specifically, the structure
of membership function is specified first and then the parameters of membership function are fine-tuned
based on the data.
The MATLAB fuzzy logic toolbox was used in the modeling where it generated a plot of the output
surface of a given fuzzy inference system (FIS) using the first two inputs and the one output. The various
surfaces are shown in the subsequent sections.

DATABASE

The success of the Artificial intelligence to predict the compressive strength and slump depends upon
the magnitude of the training data. A database of about 43 mixes was retrieved from literatures to predict
the results for Fuzzy Logic and ANN. The predicted results obtained from various models were compared
with the experimental values. The complete list of data is given in the Table 2 for the inputs and the actual
outputs. The ranges for the various parameters for both slump and compressive strength have been listed
in Table 3.

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Table 2 The Input and desired outputs parameters used in the modeling.

S No.

Cement
kg/m3

Sand
kg/m3

Foundry
Sand
kg/m3

Coarse
Aggregate
kg/m3

Water
kg/m3

Plasticizer
l/m3

Water
Cement
Ratio

Slump
mm

Compressive
strength in
mpa

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43

350
350
350
355
355
336
336
335
327
332
323
350
350
350
350
350
350
350
350
350
350
350
350
450
450
450
450
450
450
450
450
450
450
372
372
372
372
320
320
320
320
320
320

645
515
460
655
456
797
635
476
694
599
460
605
545
484
424
363
303
242
442
398
354
309
177
554
527
500
471
443
554
527
500
471
443
539
485
431
377
639
511
383
256
128
0

0
130
185
0
187
0
160
318
77
158
307
0
61
121
182
242
303
363
0
44
88
133
177
0
27
54
83
111
0
27
54
83
111
0
54
108
162
0
128
256
383
511
639

1210
1210
1210
1210
1210
997
997
993
969
983
956
1260
1260
1260
1260
1260
1260
1260
1008
1008
1008
1008
1008
1139
1139
1139
1139
1139
1139
1139
1139
1139
1139
1229
1229
1229
1229
1278
1278
1278
1278
1278
1278

175
175
175
165
165
163
166
164
161
160
158
175
175
175
175
179
186
196
159
180
183
185
187
189
189
189
189
189
189
189
189
189
189
186
186
186
186
160
160
160
160
160
160

0.75
0.95
1.4
0.95
1.7
0
0
0
0
0
0
1.75
1.75
1.75
1.75
1.75
1.75
1.75
6.32
6.32
6.32
6.32
6.32
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
4.5
5.9
5.9
5.9
0
0
0
0
0
0

0.5
0.5
0.5
0.46
0.46
0.48
0.49
0.49
0.49
0.48
0.49
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.51
0.53
0.56
0.46
0.51
0.52
0.53
0.54
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5

160
130
150
130
120
135
160
150
125
100
100
30
30
30
30
30
30
20
190
180
200
195
200
90
85
85
80
80
90
85
85
80
80
90
85
85
80
200
160
100
40
0
0

45
38
35
56
39
31
31
31
31
31
31
36.27
31.05
32.52
38.03
36.42
37.14
29.86
43.2
41.7
40.2
36.6
31
40
43
45
47
45
39.91
43.31
45.38
46.12
45.53
28
29
29.2
30.5
44
41
38
33
32
27

158

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

The major variables used for compressive strength and slump:

Cement content

Water content

Foundry sand

Sand content

Coarse aggregate content

Super plasticizer content

Water cement ratio

Table 3 Range of parameters for database

s. no.

parameters

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Cement (kg/m3)
Sand (kg/m3)
Coarse aggregate (kg/m3)
Foundry sand (kg/m3)
Water (kg/m3)
Plasticizer (l/m3)
w/c ratio

For slump and compressive

strength
320-450
0-797
993-1278
0-639
158-196
0-6.32
0.40-0.56

RESULT AND ANALYSIS

The minimum and the maximum error of the slump and compressive strength are summarised in tables
4 and 5 respectively, for ANN model and tables 7 and 8, for Fuzzy logic model. The Correlation coefficient
indicates how close the predicted output of the network is to the expected or targeted output is indicated.
In the present study, the targeted outputs are the actual values. The Correlation coefficient is in table 6
evaluated from the mean squared error where the error is the difference between the output of the
network and the targeted output for a set of inputs. It is found that the Artificial intelligence models
trained with different input values can predict the slump and compressive strength very closely (with a
maximum difference of 15% compressive strength and 30% in slump) thus paving the way for the
development of a new practical method of design concrete mix.

159

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

8.1 Results from ANN

s.no
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4

160

Table 4 Prediction on test data for slump

actual
predicted
30
36.44
40
47.85
130
170.24
150
124.8
30
25.45
200
207.37
85
81.75
100
105.93
90
78.96
160
136.19
0
-21.63
85
75.44
30
34.81
80
79.23
80
65.17
30
23.79
80
76.21
20
28.25
200
188.29
180
205.4
85
90.18
30
40.75
160
138.91
135
144.87
195
193.65
80
73.15
30
9.55
100
97.68
80
91.52
85
92.13
150
126.49
0
11.87
90
83.61
85
78.87
130
134.08
100
124.02
200
126.78
85
95.17
160
124.74
90
79.35
190
111.61
120
88.85
125
116.65

error
6.44
7.85
40.24
-25.2
-4.55
7.37
-3.25
5.93
-11.04
-23.81
-21.63
-9.56
4.81
-0.77
-14.83
-6.21
-3.79
8.25
-11.71
25.4
5.18
10.75
-21.09
9.87
-1.35
-6.85
-20.45
-2.32
11.52
7.13
-23.51
11.87
-6.39
-6.13
4.08
24.02
-73.22
10.17
-35.26
-10.65
-78.39
-31.15
-8.35

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

Table 5 Prediction on test data for compressive strength

s. no.
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4

161

actual
38.03
33
38
31
37.14
31
43.31
31
40
31
27
29.2
36.42
45
45.54
32.52
47
29.86
40.2
41.7
45
31.05
45
31
36.6
46.13
36.27
38
30.5
29
35
32
39.91
45.39
56
31
44
43
41
28
43.2
39
31

predicted
35.38
35.09
34.92
30.13
34.02
33.09
43.24
33.45
42.28
30.85
31.46
30
41.86
50.9
50.36
34.67
44.96
33.33
38.51
44.64
43.42
35.29
46.85
33.46
35.93
47.4
29.28
37.46
27.85
27.46
34.15
27.45
42.56
44.57
52.85
32.13
41.11
47
42.3
30.14
45.59
45.36
31.31

error
-2.65
2.09
-3.08
-0.87
-3.12
2.09
-0.07
2.45
2.28
-0.15
4.46
0.8
5.44
5.9
4.82
2.15
-2.04
3.47
-1.69
2.94
-1.58
4.24
1.85
2.46
-0.67
1.27
-6.99
-0.54
-2.65
-1.54
-0.85
-4.55
2.65
-0.82
-3.15
1.13
-2.89
4
1.3
2.14
2.39
6.36
0.31

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

Table 6 Summary of the coefficients for ANN models

Model

22.4

Relative
absolute error
%
32.72

Root relative
squared error
%
38.7

3.03

44.47

45.15

Correlation
coefficient

Mean absolute
error

Root mean
squared error

0.92

15.4

0.91

2.53

ACTUAL SLUMP IN mm

slump
Compressive
strength

250
200
150

+30%

100
-30%

50
0

ACTUAL COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH IN mpa

50

100

150

200

PREDICTED SLUMP IN mm

250

Fig 4 Graph between actual v/s predicted slump

60
50
+15%

40
30

-15%

20
10
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

PREDICTED COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH IN mpa

Figure 5 Graph between actual v/s predicted compressive strength

162

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

8.2 Results from Fuzzy logic

Table 7 Actual vs. Predicted compressive strength

s. no.

Compressive Strength

predicted compressive
strength

ERROR

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43

45
38
35
36
39
31
31
31
31
31
31
36.3
31.1
32.5
38.1
36.4
37.1
29.9
43.2
41.7
40.2
36.6
31
40
43
45
47
45
39.9
43.3
45.4
46.1
45.5
28
29
29.2
30.5
44
41
38
33
32
27

38.3
37.6
37.1
37.6
37.4
35.1
35.1
35.1
35.3
35
35
37.4
36.8
36.8
36.7
36.5
36.1
34.8
39
38
37.4
36.7
36.2
38.1
38.8
39.3
39.5
39.5
37.7
38.8
39.3
39.5
39.5
35.4
34.7
34.8
34.8
38.9
38.1
37.1
36
34.9
33.6

-6.7
-0.4
2.1
1.6
-1.6
4.1
4.1
4.1
4.3
4
4
1.2
5.8
4.3
-1.3
0.1
-1.1
4.9
-4.2
-3.7
-2.8
0.1
5.2
-1.9
-4.2
-5.7
-7.5
-5.5
-2.2
-4.5
-6.1
-6.6
-6.1
7.4
5.7
5.6
4.3
-5.1
-2.9
-0.9
3
2.9
6.6

Correlation Factor, Cc= 0.95

163

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

Table 8 Actual vs. Predicted slump

s. no.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43

ACTUAL Slump
160
130
150
130
120
135
160
150
125
100
100
30
30
30
30
30
30
20
190
180
200
195
200
90
85
85
80
80
90
85
85
80
80
90
85
85
80
200
160
100
40
0
0

Correlation Factor, Cc= 0.89

164

PREDICTED Slump
114
110
103
111
107
112
110
109
104
102
100
104
103
102
101
94.9
87.3
78.4
134
128
131
132
131
100
96.6
96.6
96.4
96.3
100
96.5
96.4
96.4
96.3
101
95.2
95.2
95.2
132
119
104
90.1
77.1
66.2

ERROR
-46
-20
-47
-19
-13
-23
-50
-41
-21
2
0
74
73
72
71
64.9
57.3
58.4
-56
-52
-69
-63
-69
10
11.6
11.6
16.4
16.3
10
11.5
11.4
16.4
16.3
11
10.2
10.2
15.2
-68
-41
4
50.1
77.1
66.2

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

The surface for slump

Fig. 6 Surface between slump, fine aggregate and cement.

Fig. 7 Rules used for predicting slump.

165

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

The surface for compressive strength

Fig. 8 Surface between compressive strength, fine aggregate and cement.

Fig. 9 Rules used for predicting compressive strength.

166

Aggarwal Paratibha et al - Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 (2013) 149-168

CONCLUSIONS

Concrete is a highly complex material, and prediction of the accurate compressive strength of concrete
is quite a difficult task to model. The proposed Artificial intelligence models will save time, reduce the
waste of material and the design cost. In this study, Artificial intelligence controller was proposed for
determination of the Compressive strength and slump of concrete. The graphs show a marginal difference
between the actual and predicted values. This difference is acceptable as the method is approximate. From
the end user (engineers) point of view, outcome of the model is significant on following counts; it provides
a way to capture inherent vagueness in the design. It offers flexibility for the mix design expert to decide
appropriate value for parameters like slump and compressive strength. The Artificial intelligence model
helps to capture experimental data and to use it expeditiously during the design of fresh batches of trial
mixes.
The Correlation Coefficient for ANN and Fuzzy Logic is observed to be above 0.9 which shows a
reasonably good correlation between experimental and predicted values. The Correlation Coefficient for
ANN and Fuzzy Logic are Cc =0.92, 0.89 for slump and Correlation Factor, Cc=0.91, 0.95 compressive
strength respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that through the application of Artificial intelligence is
more user-friendly and more explicit model can be made which help the concrete industry to avoid the risk
of faulty or deficient concrete that often entails durability and safety problems.

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168