Structural health monitoring (SHM) is essential for assessing the safety and serviceability of bridge structures. Identifying progressive and concurrent damage remains challenging due to the complex and continuous nature of structural deterioration. This study proposes a hybrid one-dimensional convolutional neural network and long short-term memory (1D-CNN–LSTM) framework for vibration-based damage localisation and severity estimation in reinforced concrete bridges. Operational modal analysis is applied to field-measured vibration data from an in-service bridge. A finite element model is updated using particle swarm optimisation, reducing frequency discrepancies from 7–17% to within ±3%. Progressive single-, double-, and triple-element damage scenarios are simulated through systematic stiffness degradation. The resulting modal frequency data are used to train 1D-CNN–LSTM models using Pareto front optimisation. The proposed framework achieves coefficients of determination above 0.80 with low prediction errors (MSE and MAE < 2) for single- and double-element damage scenarios. The results support the use of the proposed framework for screening-level assessment of bridge damage under controlled simulated conditions.
Nneka Emmanuella Nnamani, José C. Matos, Sayedmilad Komarizadehasl et al.· Applied Sciences· 0 citations
Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) exhibits exceptional mechanical properties and durability. However, its compressive strength is highly dependent on complex mix design parameters. While traditional experimental techniques and regression-based models are commonly used to evaluate UHPC compressive strength, machine learning approaches offer an efficient alternative for capturing complex nonlinear relationships. This study develops a machine learning–based framework to predict the compressive strength of UHPC and compares the predictive performance of five advanced algorithms: Extremely Randomized Trees (ER), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), CatBoost, and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). A comprehensive experimental database was utilized for training and validation purposes. Among the evaluated models, CatBoost achieved the best predictive performance, with a coefficient of determination (R²) exceeding 0.90, a root mean square error (RMSE) of approximately 4.5 MPa, and a mean absolute error (MAE) of approximately 3.6 MPa. However, subgroup residual analysis showed that the prediction reliability was not uniform across the full strength range. In particular, mixtures with compressive strength ≥180 MPa exhibited larger errors and systematic underprediction, mainly due to the limited number of ultra-high-strength samples in the compiled database. Therefore, the model is more reliable within well-represented strength ranges, while predictions in the ultra-high-strength region should be interpreted with caution. SHAP-based analysis, feature dependency analysis, and both Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) and Partial Dependence Plots (PDP) were employed. These explainable AI techniques identified key variables and quantified their contributions to the compressive strength of UHPC. The findings demonstrate that interpretable machine learning can support preliminary UHPC mixture assessment by combining predictive performance with physically meaningful insights.
Nga T. T. Nguyen, Tuan Anh Nguyen, Tu Tuan Nguyen et al.· PLoS ONE· 0 citations