Analysis of durability of high performance concrete using artificial neural networks

Abstract

This study aims to determine the influence of the content of water and cement, water–binder ratio, and the replacement of fly ash and silica fume on the durability of high performance concrete (HPC) by using artificial neural networks (ANNs). To achieve this, an ANNs model is developed to predict the durability of high performance concrete which is expressed in terms of chloride ions permeability in accordance with ASTM C1202-97 or AASHTO T277. The model is developed, trained and tested by using 86 data sets from experiments as well as previous researches. To verify the model, regression equations are carried out and compared with the trained neural network. The results indicate that the developed model is reliable and accurate. Based on the simulating durability model built using trained neural networks, the optimum cement content for designing HPC in terms of durability is in the range of 450–500 kg/m 3. The results also revealed that the durability of concrete expressed in terms of total charge passed over a 6-h period can be significantly improved by using at least 20% fly ash to replace cement. Furthermore, it can be concluded that increasing silica fume results in reducing the chloride ions penetrability to a higher degree than fly ash. This study also illustrates how ANNs can be used to beneficially predict durability in terms of chloride ions permeability across a wide range of mix proportion parameters of HPC.