Predicting the Compressive Strength of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Based on Machine Learning Optimized by Meta-Heuristic Algorithm

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is a recently developed material which has attracted considerable attention in the field of civil engineering because of its outstanding characteristics. One of the key factors in concrete design is the compressive strength (CS) of UHPC. As one of the most potent tools in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) can accurately predict concrete’s mechanical properties. Hyperparameter tuning is crucial in ensuring the prediction model’s reliability. However, it is a complex work. The purpose of this study is to optimize the CS prediction method for UHPC. Three ML methods, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN), are selected to predict the CS of UHPC. Among them, the RF model demonstrates superior predictive accuracy, with the testing dataset R2 of 0.8506. In addition, three meta-heuristic optimization algorithms, particle swarm optimization (PSO), beetle antenna search (BAS), and snake optimization (SO), are utilized to optimize the prediction model hyperparameters. The R2 values for the testing dataset of SO-RF, PSO-RF, and BAS-RF are 0.9147, 0.8529, and 0.8607, respectively. The results indicate that SO-RF exhibits the highest predictive performance. Furthermore, the importance of input parameters is evaluated, and the findings prove the feasibility of the SO-RF model. This research enriches the prediction method of the CS of UHPC.