Metaheuristics‐optimized ensemble system for predicting mechanical strength of reinforced concrete materials

Abstract

This paper develops a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based approach, called the metaheuristics-optimized ensemble system (MOES), to assist civil engineers significantly in achieving accurate estimations of the mechanical strength of reinforced concrete (RC) materials. MOES integrates the advantages of hybrid and ensemble models by combining a metaheuristic optimization algorithm and efficient AI models. The metaheuristic algorithm finds the optimal hyperparameters of individual AI techniques and simultaneously adjusts their weights to yield the best optimized-weight-ensemble model. Particularly, the developed MOES was established by integrating the forensic-based investigation optimization algorithm, the radial basis function neural network, and the least squares support vector regression. Four case studies of predicting structural mechanics of RC beams were performed to evaluate the performance of MOES and compare it to those of other single AI models, conventional ensemble models, hybrid models, and empirical methods. The analytical results of cross-validation reveal that MOES was the most reliable approach, achieving the best values of all performance evaluation indexes. The automated predictive analytics revealed the robustness, efficiency, and stability of MOES. Thus, the proposed approach is a highly promising tool for predicting the structural mechanics of RC beams. The success of MOES in estimating the mechanical strength of RC beams has redefined the way of optimizing an ensemble AI model, which is the primary contribution of this research to the relevant body of knowledge.