Automatic recognition system for concrete cracks with support vector machine based on crack features

Abstract

Cracks are a common problem in concrete surfaces. With the continuous optimization of machine vision-based inspection systems, effective crack detection and recognition is the core of the entire system. In this study, support vector machine (SVM) was used to distinguish cracks from other regions. To complete the recognition system of the SVM, a framework consisting of an image processing and recognition model was proposed. An algorithm combining the Prewitt operator with the Otsu threshold was proposed for image segmentation. The binary image processed by the new algorithm combined with mathematical morphology can result in a more complete crack zone and fewer interference regions. After the initial parameter extraction, most of the impurity areas were screened by preliminary discrimination, removing 99% of the impurities. This processing step ensured the balance and effectiveness of the samples. To establish an automatic identification model based on SVM with a radial basis function, compactness, occupancy rate, and length–width ratio were selected as input parameters after comparing these three features with all six features of the crack. The recognition accuracy of this system reaches 97.14%, demonstrating that the proposed method is effective and satisfies practical requirements.