Application of Fully Connected Neural Network-Based PyTorch in Concrete Compressive Strength Prediction

Abstract

Compressive strength of concrete is an important parameter in the design of concrete structures and the prediction of their durability. Therefore, it is of great significance to predict the compressive strength of concrete. In this study, a fully connected neural network model is developed using the PyTorch framework to predict the compressive strength of concrete and compared with six other machine learning models. These models are multiple linear regression, K-nearest neighbor regression, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, light gradient boosting machine, and artificial neural network. The model is trained using 4,253 data with seven input parameters, including cement (C), fly ash (F), mineral powder (K), fine aggregate (FA), coarse aggregate (CA), water reducer admixture (WRA), and water (W). Three thousand six hundred twenty-one data in the datasets are used to train the prediction model after data cleaning, and 632 data are used to validate the model. The results show that the fully connected neural network model based on PyTorch frame can predict the compressive strength of concrete with higher accuracy. Therefore, it is a reliable and useful method to optimize the artificial network model. So, it has important application value in practice. The strength of concrete can be predicted in advance, making the project more efficient and reducing costs. Besides, by adjusting the mix ratio, combining the strength prediction results in different environments and industries to ensure the quality of construction.