Optimized artificial neural network model for accurate prediction of compressive strength of normal and high strength concrete

This study develops and presents an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model employing the Levenberg-Marquardt Backpropagation (LMBP) training algorithm to predict the compressive strength of both normal and high strength concrete. The model's robustness was evaluated using an extensive dataset comprising 1637 samples. Eight input variables, including the cement content, blast furnace slag, fly ash, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, water content, superplasticizer, and testing age, were considered. The optimal number of hidden layers and neurons in the layer were identified through analysis, and the effectiveness of the model was assessed through k-fold cross-validation and statistical measures, including correlation coefficient (R), coefficient of determination (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MEA). Comparison with other models was carried out, and the perturbation/super-position method was employed for parametric studies to investigate the effect of each input variable on the output variable. The k-fold cross-validation confirmed the generalizability of the model, and statistical measures showed good results, with unit cement content and superplasticizers having the highest impact on compressive strength. The findings demonstrate that the suggested ANN model is an extremely precise, economical, and practical predictive tool for concrete compressive strength.