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Simultaneously monitoring of process mean and dispersion for the normal process has gained considerable attention. In this manuscript, we have proposed a maximum exponentially weighted moving average (Max-EWMA) control chart for joint monitoring of mean and dispersion using the inverse response function when the process follows Weibull distribution. The average run length (ARL) and the standard deviation of run length (SDRL) are used as the evaluation tools. The proposed control chart is compared with the available Max-EWMA control chart. We conclude that the proposed control chart is more sensitive than the considered control chart. The application of the proposed control chart is presented with the aid of two examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The binary logistic regression model (LRM) is practical in situations when the response variable (RV) is dichotomous. The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) is generally considered to estimate the LRM parameters. However, in the presence of multicollinearity (MC), the MLE is not the correct choice due to its inflated standard deviation (SD) and standard errors (SE) of the estimates. To combat MC, commonly used biased estimators, i.e., the Ridge estimators (RE) and Liu estimators (LEs), are preferred. However, most of the time, the traditional LE attains a negative value for its Liu parameter (LP), which is considered to be a major drawback. Therefore, to overcome this issue, we proposed a new adjusted LE for the binary LRM. Owing to numerical evaluation purposes, Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) study is performed under different conditions where bias and mean squared error are the performance criteria. Findings showed the superiority of our proposed estimator in comparison with the other estimation methods due to the existence of high but imperfect multicollinearity, which clearly means that it is consistent when the regressors are multicollinear. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that whenever there is MC, the MLE is not the best choice. Finally, a real application is being considered to be evidence for the advantage of the intended estimator. The MCS and the application findings pointed out that the considered adjusted LE for the binary logistic regression model is a more efficient estimation method whenever the regressors are highly multicollinear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, a variable acceptance sampling plan is proposed based on hybrid exponentially weighted moving averages (HEWMA). The proposed acceptance sampling plan is discussed for two cases when the standard deviation is (i) known (ii) unknown. For both of the cases, the plan parameters are determined for the various values of the producer's risk and consumer's risk. The efficiency of the proposed plan over the exponentially weighted moving averages based plan is discussed for the various values of smoothing constant in terms of sample size. We provide the tables having various values of sample size assuming normality. An illustrative example is provided to elaborate on the implementations of the proposed plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to forecast the area and production of gram pulse in Pakistan using best selected time series model based on time series data i.e. 1947-1948 to 2016-2017. The area and production of gram were forecasted over 2017-2018 to 2029-2030. A variety of time series models were applied to forecasts the gram area and production of Pakistan. The Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and some others showed that the ARIMA (1, 1, 1) and ARIMA (2, 1, 2) are the more adequate models for gram area and production, respectively. Some diagnostic tests of the selected time series model are also considered to evaluate the quality of the selected model. Moreover, the quality, of the selected models is measured based on the minimum value of the mean error, root mean square error, mean percentage error, and mean percentage absolute error. From ARIMA (1, 1, 1) and ARIMA (2, 1, 2) model, we noticed that gram area and production of Pakistan are forecasted to be 2515.08 thousand acers and 518.325 thousand tons in 2030 under the condition that there is no unusual event occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined machine learning (ML) techniques for predicting the compressive strength (CS) of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Multilayer perceptron (MLP), bagging regressor (BR), and support vector machine (SVM) were utilized for analysis. A total of 169 data points were retrieved from the various published articles. The data set was based on 11 input parameters, such as cement, limestone, fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, silica fume, rice husk ash, coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, superplasticizers, water, viscosity modifying admixtures, and one output with compressive strength of SCC. In terms of properly predicting the CS of SCC, the BR technique outperformed both the SVM and MLP models, as determined by the research results. In contrast to SVM and MLP, the coefficient of determination (R2) for the BR model was 0.95, whereas for SVM and MLP, the R2 was 0.90 and 0.86, respectively. In addition, a k-fold cross-validation approach was adopted to check the accuracy of the employed models. The statistical measures mean absolute percent error, mean absolute error, and root mean square error ensure the validity of the model. Using sensitivity analysis, the influence of input factors on the intended CS of SCC was also explored. This analysis reveals that the highest contributing parameter towards the CS of SCC was cement with 16.2%, while rice husk ash contributed the least with 4.25% among all the input variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A control chart is used to monitor longitudinal measurements of a quality characteristic and detects undesirable causes of variability. In practice, measurement error may exist and deteriorate the detection capability of a control chart. This paper focuses on the effect of measurement errors on the performance of a joint monitoring scheme for mean and coefficient of variation (CV), which is a useful measure to monitor variability when the process mean fluctuates over time and process standard deviation is a linear function of process mean. Our results from the simulations and real data application demonstrated that measurement error affects the performance of the joint monitoring control chart and multiple measurements are recommended to avoid the adverse effects of measurement error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating concrete properties using soft computing techniques has been shown to be a time and cost-efficient method in the construction industry. Thus, for the prediction of steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) strength under compressive and flexural loads, the current research employed advanced and effective soft computing techniques. In the current study, a single machine learning method known as multiple-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) and ensembled machine learning models known as MLPNN-adaptive boosting and MLPNN-bagging are used for this purpose. Water; cement; fine aggregate (FA); coarse aggregate (CA); super-plasticizer (SP); silica fume; and steel fiber volume percent (Vf SF), length (mm), and diameter were the factors considered (mm). This study also employed statistical analysis such as determination coefficient (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) to assess the performance of the algorithms. It was determined that the MLPNN-AdaBoost method is suitable for forecasting SFRC compressive and flexural strengths. The MLPNN technique's higher R2, i.e., 0.94 and 0.95 for flexural and compressive strength, respectively, and lower error values result in more precision than other methods with lower R2 values. SHAP analysis demonstrated that the volume of cement and steel fibers have the greatest feature values for SFRC's compressive and flexural strengths, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety and economy of an infrastructure project depends on the material and design equations used to simulate the performance of a particular member. A variety of materials can be used in conjunction to achieve a composite action, such as a hollow steel section filled with concrete, which can be successfully utilized in the form of an axially loaded member. This study aims to model the ultimate compressive strength (Pu) of concrete-filled hollow steel sections (CFSS) by formulating a mathematical expression using gene expression programming (GEP). A total of 149 datapoints were obtained from the literature, considering ten input parameters, including the outer diameter of steel tube (D), wall thickness of steel tube, compressive strength of concrete (fc'), elastic modulus of concrete (Ec), yield strength of steel (fv), elastic modulus of steel (Es), length of the column (L), confinement factor (ζ), ratio of D to thickness of column, and the ratio of length to D of column. The performance of the developed models was assessed using coefficient of regression R2, root mean squared error RMSE, mean absolute error MAE and comparison of regression slopes. It was found that the optimal GEP Model T3, having number of chromosomes Nc = 100, head size Hs = 8 and number of genes Ng = 3, outperformed all the other models. For this particular model, R2overall equaled 0.99, RMSE values were 133.4 and 162.2, and MAE = 92.4 and 108.7, for training (TR) and testing (TS) phases, respectively. Similarly, the comparison of regression slopes analysis revealed that the Model T3 exhibited the highest R2 of 0.99 with m = 1, in both the TR and TS stages, respectively. Finally, parametric analysis showed that the Pu of composite steel columns increased linearly with the value of D, t and fy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) approaches have gained the attention of researchers in the civil engineering field for estimating the mechanical characteristics of concrete to save the effort, time, and cost of researchers. Consequently, the current research focuses on assessing steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) in terms of flexural strength (FS) prediction by employing delicate AI techniques as well as to predict the raw material interaction that is still a research gap. In this study, the FS of SFRC is estimated by deploying supervised machine learning (ML) techniques, such as DT-Gradient Boosting, DT-XG Boost, DT-AdaBoost, and DT-Bagging. In addition to that, the performance model is also evaluated by using R2, root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE). Furthermore, the k-fold cross-validation method is also applied to validate the model's performance. It is observed that DT-Bagging with an R2 value of 0.95 is superior to DT-XG Boost, DT-Gradient Boosting, and DT-AdaBoost. Lesser error MAE and RMSE and higher R2 values for the DT-Bagging model show the enhanced performance of the model compared to the other ensembled approaches. Considerable conservation of time, effort, and cost can be made by applying ML techniques to predict concrete properties. The evaluation of the outcome depicts that the estimated results of DT-Bagging are closer to the experimental results, indicating the accurate estimation of SFRC flexural strength. It is further revealed from the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) study that the volumetric content of steel fiber highly and positively influences the FS of SFRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality control charts are widely used as a process monitoring tool. In this article, an attempt is made to develop a new control chart that integrates the exponentially weighted moving average procedure with the generalized likelihood ratio test statistic for joint monitoring of process mean and dispersion under double ranked set sampling. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to evaluate the proposed control chart based on average run length and the standard deviation of the run length. The performance of the proposed chart is examined as compared to ranked set sampling (RSS) and pair ranked set sampling (PRSS) based control charts when detecting shifts in the process mean and variability. Results showed that the proposed control chart performs better than the existing RSS- and PRSS-based control chart in simultaneous detection of shifts in the process mean and variability. An application to the real data is provided to illustrate the implementations of the proposed and existing control charts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine how radiation attenuation would change when the thickness, density, and compressive strength of clay bricks, modified with partial replacement of clay by fly ash, iron slag, and wood ash. To conduct this investigation, four distinct types of bricks—normal, fly ash-, iron slag-, and wood ash-incorporated bricks were prepared by replacing clay content with their variable percentages. Additionally, models for predicting the radiation-shielding ability of bricks were created using gene expression programming (GEP) and artificial neural networks (ANN). The addition of iron slag improved the density and compressive strength of bricks, thus increasing shielding capability against gamma radiation. In contrast, fly ash and wood ash decreased the density and compressive strength of burnt clay bricks, leading to low radiation shielding capability. Concerning the performance of the Artificial Intelligence models, the root mean square error (RMSE) was determined as 0.1166 and 0.1876 nC for the training and validation data of ANN, respectively. The training set values for the GEP model manifested an RMSE equal to 0.2949 nC, whereas the validation data produced RMSE = 0.3507 nC. According to the statistical analysis, the generated models showed strong concordance between experimental and projected findings. The ANN model, in contrast, outperformed the GEP model in terms of accuracy, producing the lowest values of RMSE. Moreover, the variables contributing towards shielding characteristics of bricks were studied using parametric and sensitivity analyses, which showed that the thickness and density of bricks are the most influential parameters. In addition, the mathematical equation generated from the GEP model denotes its significance such that it can be used to estimate the radiation shielding of burnt clay bricks in the future with ease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The depletion of natural resources of river sand and its availability issues as a construction material compelled the researchers to use manufactured sand. This study investigates the compressive strength of concrete made of manufactured sand as a partial replacement of normal sand. The prediction model, i.e., gene expression programming (GEP), was used to estimate the compressive strength of manufactured sand concrete (MSC). A database comprising 275 experimental results based on 11 input variables and 1 target variable was used to train and validate the developed models. For this purpose, the compressive strength of cement, tensile strength of cement, curing age, Dmax of crushed stone, stone powder content, fineness modulus of the sand, water-to-binder ratio, water-to-cement ratio, water content, sand ratio, and slump were taken as input variables. The investigation of a varying number of genetic characteristics, such as chromosomal number, head size, and gene number, resulted in the creation of 11 alternative models (M1-M11). The M5 model outperformed other created models for the training and testing stages, with values of (4.538, 3.216, 0.919) and (4.953, 3.348, 0.906), respectively, according to the results of the accuracy evaluation parameters root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and coefficient of determination (R2). The R2 and error indices values revealed that the experimental and projected findings are in extremely close agreement. The best model has 200 chromosomes, 8 head sizes, and 3 genes. The mathematical expression achieved from the GEP model revealed that six parameters, namely the compressive and tensile strength of cement, curing period, water–binder ratio, water–cement ratio, and stone powder content contributed effectively among the 11 input variables. The sensitivity analysis showed that water–cement ratio (46.22%), curing period (25.43%), and stone powder content (13.55%) were revealed as the most influential variables, in descending order. The sensitivity of the remaining variables was recorded as w/b (11.37%) > fce (2.35%) > fct (1.35%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interface yield stress (YS) and plastic viscosity (PV) have a significant impact on the pumpability of concrete mixes. This study is based on the application of predictive machine learning (PML) techniques to forecast the rheological properties of fresh concrete. The artificial neural network (NN) and random forest (R-F) PML approaches were introduced to anticipate the PV and YS of concrete. In comparison, the R-F model outperforms the NN model by giving the coefficient of determination (R2) values equal to 0.92 and 0.96 for PV and YS, respectively. In contrast, the model's legitimacy was also verified by applying statistical checks and a k-fold cross validation approach. The mean absolute error, mean square error, and root mean square error values for R-F models by investigating the YS were noted as 30.36 Pa, 1141.76 Pa, and 33.79 Pa, respectively. Similarly, for the PV, these values were noted as 3.52 Pa·s, 16.48 Pa·s, and 4.06 Pa·s, respectively. However, by comparing these values with the NN's model, they were found to be higher, which also gives confirmation of R-F's high precision in terms of predicting the outcomes. A validation approach known as k-fold cross validation was also introduced to authenticate the precision of employed models. Moreover, the influence of the input parameters was also investigated with regard to predictions of PV and YS. The proposed study will be beneficial for the researchers and construction industries in terms of saving time, effort, and cost of a project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporating waste material, such as recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RCAC), into construction material can reduce environmental pollution. It is also well-known that the inferior properties of recycled aggregates (RAs), when incorporated into concrete, can impact its mechanical properties, and it is necessary to evaluate the optimal performance. Accordingly, artificial intelligence has been used recently to evaluate the performance of concrete compressive behaviour for different types of construction material. Therefore, supervised machine learning techniques, i.e., DT-XG Boost, DT-Gradient Boosting, SVM-Bagging, and SVM-Adaboost, are executed in the current study to predict RCAC's compressive strength. Additionally, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis shows the influence of input parameters on the compressive strength of RCAC and the interactions between them. The correlation coefficient (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) are used to assess the model's performance. Subsequently, the k-fold cross-validation method is executed to validate the model's performance. The R2 value of 0.98 from DT-Gradient Boosting supersedes those of the other methods, i.e., DT- XG Boost, SVM-Bagging, and SVM-Adaboost. The DT-Gradient Boosting model, with a higher R2 value and lower error (i.e., MAE, RMSE) values, had a better performance than the other ensemble techniques. The application of machine learning techniques for the prediction of concrete properties would consume fewer resources and take less time and effort for scholars in the respective engineering field. The forecasting of the proposed DT-Gradient Boosting models is in close agreement with the actual experimental results, as indicated by the assessment output showing the improved estimation of RCAC's compressive strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) has been introduced as an effective alternative to conventional concrete in the construction sector. The incorporation of steel fibers into concrete provides a bridging mechanism to arrest cracks, improve the post-cracking behavior of concrete, and transfer stresses in concrete. Artificial intelligence (AI) approaches are in use nowadays to predict concrete properties to conserve time and money in the construction industry. Accordingly, this study aims to apply advanced and sophisticated machine-learning (ML) algorithms to predict SFRC compressive strength. In the current work, the applied ML approaches were gradient boosting, random forest, and XGBoost. The considered input variables were cement, fine aggregates (sand), coarse aggregates, water, silica fume, super-plasticizer, fly ash, steel fiber, fiber diameter, and fiber length. Previous studies have not addressed the effects of raw materials on compressive strength in considerable detail, leaving a research gap. The integration of a SHAP analysis with ML algorithms was also performed in this paper, addressing a current research need. A SHAP analysis is intended to provide an in-depth understanding of the SFRC mix design in terms of its strength factors via complicated, nonlinear behavior and the description of input factor contributions by assigning a weighing factor to each input component. The performances of all the algorithms were evaluated by applying statistical checks such as the determination coefficient (R2), the root mean square error (RMSE), and the mean absolute error (MAE). The random forest ML approach had a higher, i.e., 0.96, R2 value with fewer errors, producing higher precision than other models with lesser R2 values. The SFRC compressive strength could be anticipated by applying the random forest ML approach. Further, it was revealed from the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis that cement content had the highest positive influence on the compressive strength of SFRC. In this way, the current study is beneficial for researchers to effectively and quickly evaluate SFRC compressive strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concrete is an economical and efficient material for attenuating radiation. The potential of concrete in attenuating radiation is attributed to its density, which in turn depends on the mix design of concrete. This paper presents the findings of a study conducted to evaluate the radiation attenuation with varying water-cement ratio (w/c), thickness, density, and compressive strength of concrete. Three different types of concrete, i.e., normal concrete, barite, and magnetite containing concrete, were prepared to investigate this study. The radiation attenuation was calculated by studying the dose absorbed by the concrete and the linear attenuation coefficient. Additionally, artificial neural network (ANN) and gene expression programming (GEP) models were developed for predicting the radiation shielding capacity of concrete. A correlation coefficient (R), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE) were calculated as 0.999, 1.474 mGy, 2.154 mGy and 0.994, 5.07 mGy, 5.772 mGy for the training and validation sets of the ANN model, respectively. Similarly, for the GEP model, these values were recorded as 0.981, 13.17 mGy, and 20.20 mGy for the training set, whereas the validation data yielded R = 0.985, MAE = 12.2 mGy, and RMSE = 14.96 mGy. The statistical evaluation reflects that the developed models manifested close agreement between experimental and predicted results. In comparison, the ANN model surpassed the accuracy of the GEP models, yielding the highest R and the lowest MAE and RMSE. The parametric and sensitivity analysis revealed the thickness and density of concrete as the most influential parameters in contributing towards radiation shielding. The mathematical equation derived from the GEP models signifies its importance such that the equation can be easily used for future prediction of radiation shielding of high-density concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A control chart is an important tool to monitor an industrial process and the use of prior knowledge by Bayesian theory can be helpful in-control charting. In this paper, we have used the Bayesian approach with two different loss function (LF) symmetric and asymmetric loss function namely Linex LF and squared error LF under informative (conjugate) prior and non informative prior (uniform and Jeffery prior) to develop the hybrid exponentially weighted moving average control chart. The average run length and standard deviation of run length have been used as the performance measure for the proposed Bayesian HEWMA control chart using posterior and predictive posterior distribution. An extensive simulation study is conducted to evaluate the proposed control chart and a real data example is presented to demonstrate the implementations of the proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable concrete is gaining in popularity as a result of research into waste materials, such as recycled aggregate (RA). This strategy not only protects the environment, but also meets the demand for concrete materials. Using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) approaches, this study anticipates the split tensile strength (STS) of concrete samples incorporating RA. Three machine-learning techniques, artificial neural network (ANN), decision tree (DT), and random forest (RF), were examined for the specified database. The results suggest that the RF model shows high precision compared with the DT and ANN models at predicting the STS of RA-based concrete. The high value of the coefficient of determination and the low error values of the mean absolute error (MAE), mean square error (MSE), and root mean square error (RMSE) provided significant evidence for the accuracy and precision of the RF model. Furthermore, statistical tests and the k-fold cross-validation technique were used to validate the models. The importance of the input parameters and their contribution levels was also investigated using sensitivity analysis and SHAP analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the high demand for marble stones has progressed in the construction industry, ultimately resulting in waste marble production. Thus, environmental degradation is unavoidable because of waste generated from quarry drilling, cutting, and blasting methods. Marble waste is produced in an enormous amount in the form of odd blocks and unwanted rock fragments. Absence of a systematic way to dispose of these marble waste massive mounds results in environmental pollution and landfills. To reduce this risk, an effort has been made for the incorporation of waste marble powder into concrete for sustainable construction. Different proportions of marble powder are considered as a partial substitute in concrete. A total of 40 mixes are prepared. The effectiveness of marble in concrete is assessed by comparing the compressive strength with the plain mix. Supervised machine learning algorithms, bagging (Bg), random forest (RF), AdaBoost (AdB), and decision tree (DT) are used in this study to forecast the compressive strength of waste marble powder concrete. The models' performance is evaluated using correlation coefficient (R2), root mean square error, and mean absolute error and mean square error. The achieved performance is then validated by using the k-fold cross-validation technique. The RF model, having an R2 value of 0.97, has more accurate prediction results than Bg, AdB, and DT models. The higher R2 values and lesser error (RMSE, MAE, and MSE) values are the indicators for better performance of RF model among all individual and ensemble models. The implementation of machine learning techniques for predicting the mechanical properties of concrete would be a practical addition to the civil engineering domain by saving effort, resources, and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geopolymers might be the superlative alternative to conventional cement because it is produced from aluminosilicate-rich waste sources to eliminate the issues associated with its manufacture and use. Geopolymer composites (GPCs) are gaining popularity, and their research is expanding. However, casting, curing, and testing specimens requires significant effort, price, and time. For research to be efficient, it is essential to apply novel approaches to the said objective. In this study, compressive strength (CS) of GPCs was anticipated using machine learning (ML) approaches, i.e., one single method (support vector machine (SVM)) and two ensembled algorithms (gradient boosting (GB) and extreme gradient boosting (XGB)). All models' validity and comparability were tested using the coefficient of determination (R2), statistical tests, and k-fold analysis. In addition, a model-independent post hoc approach known as SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) was employed to investigate the impact of input factors on the CS of GPCs. In predicting the CS of GPCs, it was observed that ensembled ML strategies performed better than the single ML technique. The R2 for the SVM, GB, and XGB models were 0.98, 0.97, and 0.93, respectively. The lowered error values of the models, including mean absolute and root mean square errors, further verified the enhanced precision of the ensembled ML approaches. The SHAP analysis revealed a stronger positive correlation between GGBS and GPC′s CS. The effects of NaOH molarity, NaOH, and Na2SiO3 were also observed as more positive. Fly ash and gravel size: 10/20 mm have both beneficial and negative impacts on the GPC′s CS. Raising the concentration of these ingredients enhances the CS, whereas increasing the concentration of GPC reduces it. Gravel size: 4/10 mm has less favorable and more negative effects. ML techniques will benefit the construction sector by offering rapid and cost-efficient solutions for assessing material characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rebars made of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) might be the future reinforcing material, replacing mild steel rebars, which are prone to corrosion. The bond characteristics of FRP rebars differ from those of mild steel rebars due to their different stress-strain behavior than mild steel. As a result, determining the bond strength (BS) qualities of FRP rebars is critical. In this work, BS data for FRP rebars was investigated, utilizing non-linear capabilities of gene expression programming (GEP) on 273 samples. The BS of FRP and concrete was considered a function of bar surface (Bs), bar diameter (db), concrete compressive strength (fc′), concrete-cover-bar-diameter ratio (c/d), and embedment-length-bar-diameter ratio (l/d). The investigation of the variable number of genetic parameters such as number of chromosomes, head size, and number of genes was undertaken such that 11 different models (M1–M11) were created. The results of accuracy evaluation parameters, namely coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE) imply that the M11 model outperforms other created models for the training and testing stages, with values of (0.925, 0.751, 1.08) and (0.9285, 0.802, 1.11), respectively. The values of R2 and error indices showed that there is very close agreement between the experimental and predicted results. 30 number chromosomes, 9 head size, and 5 genes yielded the optimum model. The parametric analysis revealed that db, c/d, and l/d significantly affected the BS. The FRP rebar diameter size is greater than 10 mm, whereas a l/d ratio of more than 12 showed a considerable decrease in BS. In contrast, the rise in c/d ratio revealed second-degree increasing trend of BS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate calculation of the flexural capacity of flexural members is vital for the safe and economical design of FRP reinforced structures. The existing empirical models are not accurately calculating the flexural capacity of beams and columns. This study investigated the estimation of the flexural capacity of beams using non-linear capabilities of two Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, namely Artificial neural network (ANN) and Random Forest (RF) Regression. The models were trained using optimized hyperparameters obtained from the trial-and-error method. The coefficient of correlation (R), Mean Absolute Error, and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) were observed as 0.99, 5.67 kN-m, and 7.37 kN-m, for ANN, while 0.97, 7.63 kN-m, and 8.02 kN-m for RF regression model, respectively. Both models showed close agreement between experimental and predicted results; however, the ANN model showed superior accuracy and flexural strength performance. The parametric and sensitivity analysis of the ANN models showed that an increase in bottom reinforcement, width and depth of the beam, and increase in compressive strength increased the bending moment capacity of the beam, which shows the predictions by the model are corroborated with the literature. The sensitivity analysis showed that variation in bottom flexural reinforcement is the most influential parameter in yielding flexural capacity, followed by the overall depth and width of the beam. The change in elastic modulus and ultimate strength of FRP manifested the least importance in contributing flexural capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reinforced concrete structures are subjected to frequent maintenance and repairs due to steel reinforcement corrosion. Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates are widely used for retrofitting beams, columns, joints, and slabs. This study investigated the non-linear capability of artificial intelligence (AI)-based gene expression programming (GEP) modelling to develop a mathematical relationship for estimating the interfacial bond strength (IBS) of FRP laminates on a concrete prism with grooves. The model was based on five input parameters, namely axial stiffness (Eftf), width of FRP plate (bf), concrete compressive strength (fc′), width of groove (bg), and depth of the groove (hg), and IBS was considered the target variable. Ten trials were conducted based on varying genetic parameters, namely the number of chromosomes, head size, and number of genes. The performance of the models was evaluated using the correlation coefficient (R), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE). The genetic variation revealed that optimum performance was obtained for 30 chromosomes, 11 head sizes, and 4 genes. The values of R, MAE, and RMSE were observed as 0.967, 0.782 kN, and 1.049 kN for training and 0.961, 1.027 kN, and 1.354 kN. The developed model reflected close agreement between experimental and predicted results. This implies that the developed mathematical equation was reliable in estimating IBS based on the available properties of FRPs. The sensitivity and parametric analysis showed that the axial stiffness and width of FRP are the most influential parameters in contributing to IBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement production is one of the major sources of decomposition of carbonates leading to the emission of carbon dioxide. Researchers have proven that incorporating industrial wastes is of paramount significance for producing green concrete due to the benefits of reducing cement production. The compressive strength of concrete is an imperative parameter to consider when designing concrete structures. Considering high prediction capabilities, artificial intelligence models are widely used to estimate the compressive strength of concrete mixtures. A variety of artificial intelligence models have been developed in the literature; however, evaluation of the modeling procedure and accuracy of the existing models suggests developing such models that manifest the detailed evaluation of setting parameters on the performance of models and enhance the accuracy compared to the existing models. In this study, the computational capabilities of the adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS), gene expression programming (GEP), and gradient boosting tree (GBT) were employed to investigate the optimum ratio of ground-granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and fly ash (FA) to the binder content. The training process of GEP modeling revealed 200 chromosomes, 5 genes, and 12 head sizes as the best hyperparameters. Similarly, ANFIS hybrid subclustering modeling with aspect ratios of 0.5, 0.1, 7, and 150; learning rate; maximal depth; and number of trees yielded the best performance in the GBT model. The accuracy of the developed models suggests that the GBT model is superior to the GEP, ANFIS, and other models that exist in the literature. The trained models were validated using 40% of the experimental data along with parametric and sensitivity analysis as second level validation. The GBT model yielded correlation coefficient (R), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE), equaling 0.95, 3.07 MPa, and 4.80 MPa for training, whereas, for validation, these values were recorded as 0.95, 3.16 MPa, and 4.85 MPa, respectively. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the aging of the concrete was the most influential parameter, followed by the addition of GGBFS. The effect of the contributing parameters was observed, as corroborated in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous tests are used to determine the performance of concrete, but compressive strength (CS) is usually regarded as the most important. The recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) exhibits lower CS compared to natural aggregate concrete. Several variables, such as the water-cement ratio, the strength of the parent concrete, recycled aggregate replacement ratio, density, and water absorption of recycled aggregate, all impact the RAC's CS. Many studies have been carried out to ascertain the influence of each of these elements separately. However, it is difficult to investigate their combined effect on the CS of RAC experimentally. Experimental investigations entail casting, curing, and testing samples, which require considerable work, expense, and time. It is vital to adopt novel methods to the stated aim in order to conduct research quickly and efficiently. The CS of RAC was predicted in this research utilizing machine learning techniques like decision tree, gradient boosting, and bagging regressor. The data set included eight input variables, and their effect on the CS of RAC was evaluated. Coefficient correlation (R2), the variance between predicted and experimental outcomes, statistical checks, and k-fold evaluations, were carried out to validate and compare the models. With an R2 of 0.92, the bagging regressor technique surpassed the decision tree and gradient boosting in predicting the strength of RAC. The statistical assessments also validated the superior accuracy of the bagging regressor model, yielding lower error values like mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE). MAE and RMSE values for the bagging model were 4.258 and 5.693, respectively, which were lower than the other techniques employed, i.e., gradient boosting (MAE = 4.956 and RMSE = 7.046) and decision tree (MAE = 6.389 and RMSE = 8.952). Hence, the bagging regressor is the best suitable technique to predict the CS of RAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) alongside two supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs)—i.e., fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF)—on the 28-day compressive strength (CS28d) of cementitious grouts by using. For the gene expression programming (GEP) approach, a total of 156 samples were prepared in the laboratory using variable percentages of PET and SCM (0–10%, each). To achieve the best hyper parameter setting of the optimized GEP model, 10 trials were undertaken by varying the genetic parameters while observing the models' performance in terms of statistical indices, i.e., correlation coefficient (R), root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), comparison of regression slopes, and predicted to experimental ratios (ρ). Sensitivity analysis and parametric study were performed on the best GEP model (obtained at; chromosomes = 50, head size = 9, and genes = 3) to evaluate the effect of contributing input parameters. The sensitivity analysis showed that: CS7d (30.47%) > CS1d (28.89%) > SCM (18.88%) > Flow (18.53%) > PET (3.23%). The finally selected GEP model exhibited optimal statistical indices (R = 0.977 and 0.975, RMSE = 2.423 and 2.531, MAE = 1.918 and 2.055) for training and validation datasets, respectively. The role of PET/SCM has no negative influence on the CS28d of cementitious grouts, which renders the PET a suitable alternative toward achieving sustainable and green concrete. Hence, the simple mathematical expression of GEP is efficacious, which leads to saving time and reducing labor costs of testing in civil engineering projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to rise in infrastructure development and demand for seawater and sea sand concrete, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebars are widely used in the construction industry. Flexural strength is an important component of reinforced concrete structural design. Therefore, this research focuses on estimating the flexural capacity of FRP-reinforced concrete beams using novel artificial intelligence (AI) decision tree (DT) and gradient boosting tree (GBT) approaches. For this purpose, six input parameters, namely the area of bottom flexural reinforcement, depth of the beam, width of the beam, concrete compressive strength, the elastic modulus of FRP rebar, and the tensile strength of rebar at failure, are considered to predict the moment bearing capacity of the beam under bending loads. The models were trained using 60% of the database and were validated first-hand on the remaining 40% database employing the correlation coefficient (R), error indices namely, mean absolute error, root mean square error (MAE, RMSE) and slope of the regression line between observed and predicted results. The developed models were further validated using sensitivity and parametric analysis. Both models revealed comparable performance; however, based on the comparison of the slope of the validation data (0.83 for GBT model against 0.75 for the DT model) and higher R for the validation phase in case of the GBT model in comparison to the DT, the GBT model can be considered more accurate and robust. The sensitivity analysis yielded depth of the beam as the most influential parameter in contributing flexural strength of the beam, followed by the area of flexural reinforcement. The developed GBT model surpasses the existing gene expression programming (GEP) model in terms of accuracy; however, the current American Concrete Institute (ACI) model equations are more reliable than AI models in predicting the flexural strength of FRP-reinforced concrete beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequentist approach-based control charts (CCs) have been widely used to monitor the performance of the process. As compare to frequentist approach, the CCs based on the Bayesian approach can be used with a small phase-I dataset. This paper aims to propose a new homogenously weighted moving average CC based on the Bayesian theory. We have used two different loss functions, symmetric loss function as squared error loss function and asymmetric loss function as linex loss function under the informative prior as conjugate prior and noninformative prior by using posterior distribution (P dist) and posterior predictive distribution (PP dist). We calculated the values of average run length and standard deviation of run length to check the performance of the proposed homogenously weighted moving average CC based on the Bayesian theory. We also compared the proposed CC with the exponentially weighted moving average CC under the Bayesian theory. The results revealed that the proposed CC is more sensitive in the detection of small/moderate shifts than the considered CC. Finally, we presented an example based on a real-life data for implementation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Bayesian EWMA control chart under two different loss functions (i) squared error loss function (SELF) and (ii) linex loss function (LLF) in the presence of measurement error (ME).We take posterior and posterior predictive distribution under the conjugate prior. We used a linear covariate model in the existence of ME to evaluate the control chart. We also studied the effects of multiple measurements and linear increasing variance methods in the existence of the ME. The average run length and standard deviation of run length are used to measure the performance of the BayesianEWMAcontrol chart with ME. We conducted the Monte Carlo simulation study to evaluate the performance of Bayesian EWMA control chart with ME. A real-life data example is also presented to demonstrate the application of the control chart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid control charts have become part of statistical process control (SPC) but still, need more emphasis. Researchers are developing charts for joint monitoring of process mean and variance shifts just like Max-EWMA and their hybrid version using auxiliary information but are ignoring the effect of measurement error on the efficiency of charts. We propose maximum hybrid exponentially weighted moving average with measurement error using auxiliary information and name it Max-HEWMAMEAI control chart. The efficiency of this chart is proved through calculations of average run lengths (ARLs) and standard deviations of run lengths (SDRLs) using the Monte Carlo simulations method whereas,𝐴𝑅𝐿𝑠 and SDRLs are shown in tabular form. The effect of measurement error on the efficiency of the chart has been analyzed and the impact of multiple measurements to reduce the error effect has been studied using the covariate model. Real-life application is also part of this article to support the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A control chart is one of the important industrial tools used for monitoring the stability of manufacturing processes. The performance of the control charts can be affected in the presence of measurement error, which also leads to erroneous conclusions. In this article, we examined the effect of measurement error on an adaptive exponentially weighted moving average (AEWMA) control chart by using simple random sampling (SRS) and ranked set sampling (RSS) schemes. The linear covariate model is used to evaluate the control chart in the presence of measurement error. The case of multiple measurements and linear increasing variance is also investigated in the presence of measurement error. The average run length (ARL) and the standard deviation of run length (SDRL) are used as the performance measurement tool. Our results from the simulations and real data application demonstrated that measurement error affects the performance of control charts and multiple measurements are recommended to be used to avoid the effects of measurement error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, different schemes of ranked set sampling (RSS) are used to design a new hybrid exponentially weighted moving average (HEWMA) control chart having more sensitivity to small and moderate shifts. The average run length and standard deviation of run length based on Monte-Carlo simulations are used as an evaluation measure for the sensitivity of the proposed control chart. They indicate that the HEWMA using RSS schemes significantly increases the performance of the control chart. In addition, the suggested control chart dominates classical exponentially weighted moving average control charts (EWMA), EWMA based on RSS, and HEWMA control charts using simple random sampling in detecting the small/moderate shifts in the process mean. An example containing real data is also given to further explain the application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic dishonesty may be seen as a deceitful endeavour to avoid academic rules, principles, practices, traditions, and values to gain illegal benefit. Academic dishonesty is a worldwide concern. The main aim of the study was to identify the views of Pakistani students towards academic corruption as well as to find out any differences in their perceptions towards academic dishonesty at the university level. It was quantitative research and a survey was conducted to investigate the academic dishonesty among students. An adopted questionnaire based on a 5-point Likert scale was used to collect the data from three hundred randomly selected respondents. Frequencies, percentages, Mean, Standard deviation, independent sample t-test, and One Way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that approximately half of the participants are, consciously or unconsciously, involved in the activities which may be termed as cheating. They also think that cheaters are considered to be smart people in the country. Moreover, students cheat as they desire to earn good grades in exams and it is in line with the general trend in society. Teachers may motivate their students to focus on learning rather than grades only. They may help their students overcome their fear of failure to reduce the practices of academic dishonesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical process control (SPC) provides tools to monitor the production process in order to avoid losses of the producer. Literature provides many control charts to monitor moderate and small shifts in the process while sensitivity of the charts is increasing day by day due to increased efficiency. In this study, a control chart is proposed using an auxiliary variable for joint monitoring of the process mean and variance. The proposed control chart is proved efficient to minor shifts in mean and variance on the basis of average run lengths ( ARLs ) and standard deviation of run lengths ( SDRLs ). An example is presented to illustrate the performance of proposed control chart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart is good enough to capture a small/moderate shift in the process-mean as it has the ability to provide good detection of a said shift by using current as well as past information about the process. To enhance the performance of EWMA chart, cost-effective and efficient ranked set sampling (RSS) type methods, named paired double-RSS (PDRSS), extreme paired double-RSS (EPDRSS) and quartile paired double-RSS (QPDRSS) are used to propose EWMA-PDRSS, EWMA-EPDRSS and EWMA-QPDRSS charts. By using the simulation study, the performance of developed control charts is evaluated in terms of average run length (ARL) as well as standard deviation of run length (SDRL) measures. The simulation results revealed that the proposed charts surpass the simple random sampling (SRS) based classical EWMA (EWMA-SRS) chart when capturing a small/moderate shift in the process-mean. An illustrative application is also presented to support the proposed study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory type control charts have built using logarithmic transformations for the normalization of unbiased sample variance for monitoring of changes in the dispersion of process. The intention of this study is to give a new hybrid exponentially weighted moving average (HEWMA) control chart for monitoring theprocess dispersion. The logarithmic transformation is used to normalize the distribution of sample variance. The execution of the proposed HEWMA control chart is evaluated in accordance with the average run length and standard deviation run length estimated with the help of Monte Carlo method. The proposed HEWMTn control chart has been compared with the corresponding existing charts to detect increase and decrease in the process variability. It showed that the proposed HEWMTn control chart is uniformly better than its parallels for detection of shifts in the process variability. A numerical study is also given to understand the operationalization of the proposed control chart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silica fume (SF) is a frequently used mineral admixture in producing sustainable concrete in the construction sector. Incorporating SF as a partial substitution of cement in concrete has obvious advantages, including reduced CO2 emission, cost-effective concrete, enhanced durability, and mechanical properties. Due to ever-increasing environmental concerns, the development of predictive machine learning (ML) models requires time. Therefore, the present study focuses on developing modeling techniques in predicting the compressive strength of silica fume concrete. The employed techniques include decision tree (DT) and support vector machine (SVM). An extensive and reliable database of 283 compressive strengths was established from the available literature information. The six most influential factors, i.e., cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, water, superplasticizer, and silica fume, were considered as significant input parameters. The evaluation of models was performed by different statistical parameters, such as mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), root mean squared log error (RMSLE), and coefficient of determination (R2). Individual and ensemble models of DT and SVM showed satisfactory results with high prediction accuracy. Statistical analyses indicated that DT models bested SVM for predicting compressive strength. Ensemble modeling showed an enhancement of 11 percent and 1.5 percent for DT and SVM compressive strength models, respectively, as depicted by statistical parameters. Moreover, sensitivity analyses showed that cement and water are the governing parameters in developing compressive strength. A cross-validation technique was used to avoid overfitting issues and confirm the generalized modeling output. ML algorithms are used to predict SFC compressive strength to promote the use of green concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of multiphysics models and soft computing techniques is gaining enormous attention in the construction sector due to the development of various types of concrete. In this research, an improved form of supervised machine learning, i.e., multigene expression programming (MEP), has been used to propose models for the compressive strength ( f c ′ ), splitting tensile strength ( f STS ), and flexural strength ( f FS ) of sustainable bagasse ash concrete (BAC). The training and testing of the proposed models have been accomplished by developing a reliable and comprehensive database from published literature. Concrete specimens with varying proportions of sugarcane bagasse ash (BA), as a partial replacement of cement, were prepared, and the developed models were validated by utilizing the results obtained from the tested BAC. Different statistical tests evaluated the accurateness of the models, and the results were cross-validated employing a k-fold algorithm. The modeling results achieve correlation coefficient (R) and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) above 0.8 each with relative root mean squared error (RRMSE) and objective function (OF) less than 10 and 0.2, respectively. The MEP model leads in providing reliable mathematical expression for the estimation of f c ′ , f STS and f FS of BA concrete, which can reduce the experimental workload in assessing the strength properties. The study's findings indicated that MEP-based modeling integrated with experimental testing of BA concrete and further cross-validation is effective in predicting the strength parameters of BA concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reservoir inflow prediction is a vital subject in the field of hydrology because it determines the flood event. The negative impact of the floods could be minimized greatly if the flood frequency is predicted accurately in advance. In the present study, a novel hybrid model, bootstrap quadratic response surface is developed to test daily streamflow prediction. The developed bootstrap quadratic response surface model is compared with multiple linear regression model, first-order response surface model, quadratic response surface model, wavelet first-order response surface model, wavelet quadratic response surface model, and bootstrap first-order response surface model. Time series data of monsoon season (1 July to 30 September) for the year 2010 of the Chenab river basin are analyzed. The studied models are tested by using performance indices: Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency, mean absolute error, persistence index, and root mean square error. Results reveal that the proposed model, i.e., bootstrap quadratic response surface shows good performance and produces optimum results for daily reservoir inflow prediction than other models used in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, we have considered stratified two-phase sampling scheme for estimating the population mean of study variable taking auxiliary information. The proposed chain estimators are the exponential function of auxiliary variables. The mean square errors and biases equations have been obtained for the proposed estimators. Further, the proposed estimators are given in generalized form. The conditions for which proposed estimators are more efficient as compared to other estimators have been discussed. It is shown that the proposed estimators are more efficient as compared to the unbiased sample mean estimator, modified stratified two-phase ratio and product estimators. Empirical study has also been carried out to demonstrate the performance of proposed estimators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]