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This investigation is mainly focused on the prediction of 112-day drying shrinkage of self-compacting concrete (SCC) and conventional concrete (CC) blended with or without class F fly ash using symbolic regression. Two logical parameters, namely additive factor (AF) and coarse aggregate points (CAP), have been included in the preparation of input parameters to address the influence of fly ash and coarse aggregate on the drying shrinkage of concrete. The experimental data provided by literature and this investigation have been used for symbolic regression. It is evidently revealed that the evolved equation (AF_CAP_Equation) was able to predict the 112-day drying shrinkage of SCC and CC reasonably. Effect of AF and CAP on the drying shrinkage of concrete mixes has also been discussed.

The present investigation is mainly focused on predicting compressive strength of geopolymer concrete (GPC) using non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques viz., Schmidt rebound hammer (SRH), ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and combined method. The NDT techniques were performed to compare the accuracy between the SRH, UPV and combined method in estimating the compressive strength of GPC. In this study, four mixes of GPC were prepared with different fine aggregate blending. Sand and granite slurry or granite fines (GF) are blended in different proportions (100:0, 80:20, 60:40 and 40:60). Coarse aggregates of size 20 and 10 mm are blended in proportions 60:40. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and fly ash (class F) were used at 50:50 ratio as geopolymer binders. Combination of sodium hydroxide (8M) and sodium silicate solution was used as an alkaline activator. Prior to compressive strength of test specimens, SRH, UPV and combined method were recorded after 7, 28 and 90 days of curing at ambient room temperature. From the results, it is revealed that the compressive strength, SRH, UPV and combined method results were increased up to fine aggregate blending of 60:40. Different equations were proposed correlating the compressive strength of concrete to SRH, UPV and combined method. Statistical analysis includes type of fit, sum of square residuals and standard errors were determined for the proposed equations. The measured compressive strength of all mixes was compared with predicted equations developed by past researchers.

Software industry is currently fast paced in order to meet dynamic customer demands and to keep pace with competition. Hence, it is inevitable for organisations to generate high quality software within the acceptable band of constraints and resources. Even though mature organisation has incorporated all the best practices with state of the art technology, the development process always has an element of scope creep. The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of scope creep in project success which is reflected through customer satisfaction. An empirical investigation is carried out in one of the leading software industries having a maturity level of CMMI level 5. Investigation results indicate the significance of scope creep in the customer satisfaction index, which truly indicates project success. The results also show impact of other parameter such as time, cost, complexity, number of developers and defect count on customer satisfaction index. This knowledge certainly brings in a radical change in formulating business strategies to effectively manage scope creep in the software projects.