Algorithm for pixel-level concrete pavement crack segmentation based on an improved U-Net model

Abstract Cracks that occur in concrete surfaces are numerous and diverse, and different cracks will affect road safety in different degrees. Accurately identifying pavement cracks is crucial for assessing road conditions and formulating maintenance strategies. This study improves the original U-shaped convolutional network (U-Net) model through the introduction of two innovations, thereby modifying its structure, reducing the number of parameters, enhancing its ability to distinguish between background and cracks, and improving its speed and accuracy in crack detection tasks. Additionally, datasets with different exposure levels and noise conditions are used to train the network, broadening its predictive ability. A custom dataset of 960 road crack images was added to the public dataset to train and evaluate the model. The test results demonstrate that the proposed U-Net-FML model achieves high accuracy and detection speed in complex environments, with MIoU, F 1 score, precision, and recall values of 76.4%, 74.2%, 84.2%, and 66.4%, respectively, significantly surpassing those of the other models. Among the seven comparison models, U-Net-FML has the strongest overall performance, highlighting its engineering value for precise detection and efficient analysis of cracks.