Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Estimation of strength, rheological parameters, and impact of raw

constituents of alkali-activated mortar using machine learning and SHapely
Additive exPlanations (SHAP)
Sohaib Nazar a, b, d, Jian Yang a, b, c, *, Xing-Er Wang a, b, Kaffayatullah Khan e,
Muhammad Nasir Amin e, Mohammad Faisal Javed d, Fadi Althoey f, Mujahid Ali g
a
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
b
Shanghai Key Laboratory for Digital Maintenance of Buildings and Infrastructure, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, Shanghai 200240, China
c
School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
d
Department of Civil Engineering, Comsats University Islamabad-Abbottabad Campus, Pakistan
e
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
f
Department of Civil Engineering, Najran University, Najran 55461, Saudi Arabia
g
Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistics, Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8
Street, 40-019 Katowice, Poland

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: One-part alkali-activated material (AAM) is a new eco-friendly developed low-carbon binder that utilizes alkaline
Alkali-activated material activators in solid form. This study deals with the experimental synthesis of one-part alkali-activated mortar
Gene expression programming (AAM) based on the partial replacement of fly ash (FA) with hydraulic lime (LM) as a precursor, and machine
Yield stress
learning-based gene expression modeling (GEP) modeling for the optimization of the developed AAM. The
Plastic viscosity
SHAP analysis
datasets were established by the experimental work performed during this current study. The chosen input
parameters were fly ash, hydraulic lime, sodium silicate, sodium hydroxide, sand/binder, water/binder, curing
age, and time after mixing. The experimental results showed greater compressive strength and rheological pa­
rameters for the specimens having a high quantity of hydraulic lime. The GEP model has shown a strong
generalization capability and prediction capacity for the future estimation of compressive strength, plastic vis­
cosity, and yield strength. All the models showed a strong correlation of 0.92, 0.89, and 0.96 for compressive
strength, plastic viscosity, and yield stress respectively. SHapely Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were employed to
explore the effect of each input parameter of AAM on the predicted outcomes. The results revealed a strong
interaction and positive effect of LM on the YS and PV while a negative impact was observed for the compressive
strength. While fly ash has shown a negative impact on three outcomes of PV, YS, and CS respectively. The
addition of LM and SS-activator leads to earlier structural build-up due to the flocculation of particles caused by
the faster geopolymerization reactions.

1. Introduction reaching up to 50% [1,2]. According to Zhang et al. [3], the

The massive release of CO2 has been a significant factor in the
melting of the Antarctic and Arctic ice sheets. As a result of this climatic
change, the planet is currently experiencing serious problems with tsu­
namis, drought, and odd rain events. The production of toxic gases from
the building industry is one of the most detrimental to the environment,
manufacturing of cement is regarded as a significant source of CO2
emissions because one ton of cement production produces 950 kg to
1000 kg of CO2. Cement manufacture contributes up to 15% of all in­
dustrial energy use to CO2 emissions [4]. To maintain a clean environ­
ment, scientists and engineers have been very concerned about the
reduction of cement application in the construction business.

* Corrsponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China.
E-mail address: j.yang.1@sjtu.edu.cn (J. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131014
Received 14 December 2022; Received in revised form 8 March 2023; Accepted 9 March 2023
Available online 27 March 2023
0950-0618/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Table 1 Additionally, using cement substitutes has become essential in today’s

Chemical composition of FA and LM. culture. For the past ten years, numerous researchers have attempted to
Main chemical composition FA LM substitute cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs)
such as rice husk ash, silica fume, fly ash (FA), metakaolin, and ground
Chloride (Cl) 1.53
Sulfate (SO3) 0.51 granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), with some success [5–7].
Calcium oxide (CaO) 4.42 85.41 Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) can be replaced, and its limits are
Silica (SiO2) 51.55 2.96 reduced with conventional alkali-activated materials. OPC must be
Alumina (AL2O3) 33.32 0.71 produced at temperatures between 1400 and 1450 ◦ C, which emits
Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 3.34 0.67
SiO2 + AL2O3 + Fe2O3 88.21
Sodium oxide (Na2O) 0.51 Table 3
K2O – 0.76 Statistical Analysis of the data for PV and YS.
Cl – 1.13
SrO – 0.81 FA(d0) LM SS SH S/b w/b TM
MgO 0.75 0.10 (d1) (d2) (d3) (d4) (d5) (d6)
Phosphate (P2O5) 6.22 min 50 0.00 7.00 0.00 0.80 0.38 0.00
Loss of Ignition (LOI) 1.53 7.45 max 100.00 50.00 10.00 3.00 2.00 0.42 20
Hydration Modulus 0.746 29.12 mean 66.76 33.24 7.54 2.46 1.12 0.40 4.23
median 60.00 40.00 7.00 3.00 1.00 0.40 0.00
SD 12.51 12.51 0.97 0.97 0.29 0.01 8.22
Kurtosis 1.10 1.10 1.35 1.35 3.03 7.73 0.09
Skewness 1.30 − 1.30 1.65 − 1.65 1.99 − 0.33 1.45

Fig. 1. (a) Particle size distribution of LM, FA, and sand (b) XRD diffraction peaks for FA and LM.

Fig. 2. SEM image of Hydrate lime and FA particles.

Table 2
Statistical Analysis of the data for CS.
FA(d0) LM(d1) SS(d2) SH(d3) S/b(d4) w/b(d5) CT(d6) Age(d7)

min 50 0 7 0 0.8 0.38 70 7

max 50 10 3 2 0.42 80 28 45.71
mean 40 7 3 1 0.4 80 14 25.19
median 40 7 3 1 0.4 80 14 25.19
SD 11.97 0.78 0.78 0.30 0.01 3.58 8.75 8.99
Kurtosis 2.07 5.50 5.50 1.80 7.23 1.93 − 1.51 − 0.52
Skewness − 1.69 2.59 − 2.59 1.73 0.00 − 1.98 0.39 0.11

2
S. Nazar et al.
Fig. 3. GEP-Algorithm architecture [48,52].
greenhouse gases [8]. In contrast to OPC, geopolymer concrete (GPC) is
manufactured without emitting greenhouse gases and has superior
chemical and mechanical qualities. Thus, AAM, sometimes known as
“green cement,” is a sustainable alternative to OPC. In previous studies,
few scientists have reported 26–45% fewer CO2 emissions for the
replacement of AAM or geopolymer concrete with OPC concrete [9–11].
However, Turner et al, recorded only 9% fewer CO2 emissions. The main
elements that have an impact on the CO2 emissions of alkali-activated/
geopolymer concrete are the mining, processing, and transportation of
raw materials used to make alkali activators, the significant energy used
to make alkali activators, and high-temperature curing to achieve
adequate strength [8,12]. In this context, a significant area of study for
many scientists over the past ten years has been the complete replace­
ment of cement with alkali-activated materials or geopolymers [13].
AAM can be produced from geological sources like kaolinite and clay or
industrial by-products such as GGBFS, FA, red mud, wastepaper sludge,
rice husk ash, etc. [14–17]. The availability, initial cost, and particular
use all affect the source material choice in polymerization
manufacturing.
Alkali-activated binders are typically prepared using FA, metakaolin
(MK), and slag [18]. However, GGBFS has demonstrated viability with
low calcium-based FA, proving to be a viable precursor leading to the
creation of dense and solid hard-hydrated products [19]. To promote the
reactivity of some raw ingredients, the dry paste might be made at high
temperatures. It is imperative to develop a one-part AAM blend “simply
add water” equivalent binder ingredient to OPC to expand the practical
application of AAM or geopolymer binders (GPB). Development of one-
part geopolymer/AAM mortar consists of difficult and challenging
experimental investigations. Since many factors other than the in­
gredients affect both the fresh and hardened characteristics. It takes a lot
3
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
of materials, time, and effort to formulate a one-part AAM or GPB since
it requires careful input material and mixed proportion selection based
on numerous experiments. To minimize these difficulties and speed up
the creative synthesis of a one-part AAM binder with the appropriate
qualities, machine learning-based methods can be useful [19].
The study of concrete’s deformation and flowability is known as
rheology. At various shear rates and times, yield stress and plastic vis­
cosity must be measured. The desired concrete can be produced with the
green strength and viscosity needed by controlling the fresh character­
istics. Therefore, the rheological evaluation of fresh characteristics of­
fers a valuable tool for assessing the needed flowability in 3D concrete
printing, and self-compacting concrete [20]. The quantity and quality of
the constituents determine the rheology of any concrete mix design.
Examples of factors that have a big impact on concrete flowability
include aggregate shape, size, quantity, paste volume, water/binder,
and kind of superplasticizer. The addition of diverse ingredients has
resulted in different behavior of rheological parameters [21]. Similarly,
the rheology of alkali-activated materials or geopolymers is dependent
on many input parameters. As each input parameter significantly affects
the flowability of AAM. One-part AAM is less flowable as compared to
the conventional AAM. It may be due to the usage of solid activators
which increase the rate of geopolymerization reactions [22,23].
Soft computing methods are increasingly used to analyze compli­
cated behavior and forecast the mechanical, fresh, and durability
characteristics of various types of concrete due to their superior pre­
dictability. Many scientists throughout the world have reported on the
effective use of these machine learning (ML) techniques based on AI
algorithms in the fields of civil and material engineering. The imple­
mentation of these ML methods and the innovation in data for pro­
cessing materials properties have received a lot of attention in recent
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Fig. 4. Research methodology flowchart.

(RFA), have been utilized to estimate the mechanical properties, such as

Table 4 compressive strength (CS), flexure, and tensile strength, in the context of
Various Hyper-parameters used for training of GEP-model.
GPC or AAM [28–33]. To estimate the CS of AAM, Dao et al. [34,35]
Parameter type Settings used four algorithms (ANN, particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based
CS YS PV ANFIS, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference, and GA-based ANFIS) with four
Training datasets(70%) 180 71 71
input variables (two activators sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide,
Developed chromosomes 100 FA, and water content). Ahmad et al. collected 154 data points by using
Used function set +, − , ×, ÷, x2, cubic root bagging regressor (BR), AdaBoost regressor [36]. The CS and slump of
Total no. of genes 4 AAM were predicted by Gomaa et al. [37] using a random forest-
Head size 10
ensembled machine learning system. The effectiveness of the GEP al­
Constant per gene 10
Data Type Floating number gorithm to predict the CS of GPC was examined by Khan et al. in their
Maximum complexity 10 study [38]. The final score was given as a mathematical equation with a
Ephemeral random constant [− 10, 10] total of 298 points. Nazar et al. [39] employed DTA and Bagging
Mutation rate 0.00138 Regression (BR) techniques for the prediction of the rheological prop­
Type of Linking function Addition
erties of fresh OPC concrete. AAM prepared by earlier researchers has
Inversion rate 0.00546
IS transposition rate 0.000546 shown excellent performance for mechanical and durability properties.
RIS transposition rate 0.000546 Mostly slag has been employed along with other precursors to prepare
One-point recombination rate 0.00277 these AAMs. The addition of hydraulic lime (LM) as a replacement for FA
for the synthesis of AAM has been rarely explored. Although few studies
have investigated the compressive strength of AAM/geopolymer with
years [24]. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) [25–27] with three sub-
the addition of a small quantity of hydraulic lime. However, the effect of
algorithms, i.e., backpropagation neural network (BPNN), Bayesian
hydraulic lime on the rheological parameters and the phenomenon of
neural network (BNN), and the multilayer perceptron neural network
gain in compressive strength has not been explored in detail. Moreover,
(MLPNN), genetic algorithm (GA), gene expression programming (GEP),
the optimization of the effect of FA/LM-based AAM on the YS, PV and CS
the combination of several neural networks, i.e., adaptive neuro-fuzzy
through machine learning-based algorithms has not been investigated.
interface system (ANFIS), ensemble machine learning (EML) tech­
Therefore, an evaluation of the relative importance of numerous fea­
niques such as decision tree algorithm (DTA), random forest algorithm
tures and their effects on CS, YS, and PV, can help material scientists to

4
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Table 5 (SH), were used in various SS/SH ratios. The percentage of Na2O and
Statistical measures for training, testing, and validation datasets of GEP- SiO2 in anhydrous sodium silicate was found 51.19 % and 47.36%
developed models for CS (MPa). respectively. AAM mortar was created from regular sand mined from the
Model Statistical parameters GEP Ghazi (Pakistan) region with a fineness modulus of 2.61.
Train Test Valid
Precursor particle size distribution is shown in Fig. 1 and was ac­
quired using Laser-diffraction analysis (LDA). The FA particles were
CS MAE 1.707 3.001 3.301
found finer (D50 = 15.172 μm) than the average size of hydraulic lime
RSE 0.074 0.338 0.298
RMSE 4.826 5.614 5.631 (D50 = 22.572 μm) and sand. Also, the phase distribution of raw ma­
NSE 0.925 0.661 0.701 terials is shown in Fig. 1b. LM has shown more amorphous peaks than
R 0.963 0.946 0.927 the FA, where mullite, calcite, and quartz were the main crystalline
RRMSE 0.206 0.177 0.192 peaks of FA. Fig. 2 shows the pictures of hydrated lime and fly ash ob­
Pif 0.031 0.039 0.041
OF 0.029
tained employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FA has more
round shape particles, which are suitable to enhance the workability of
the AAM mixes.
PV MAE 2.315 3.942 2.698
RSE 0.343 0.135 0.222
RMSE 6.060 6.317 6.212 2.2. Mix proportions
NSE 0.656 0.864 0.777
R 0.946 0.895 0.962 Both the rheological parameters and compressive strength of AAM
RRMSE 0.164 0.179 0.160
Pif 0.033 0.039 0.029
are significantly affected by several input parameters [19,40]. There­
OBF 0.024 fore, the investigational work was performed in three phases. In phase 1,
the main aim was to study the effect of different percentages of LM in
YS MAE 23.784 35.747 25.888 combination with FA. Both the rheology and mechanical strength were
RSE 0.833 0.042 0.030 checked for all ratios. Eight mix ratios i.e., 10%, 20%,30% 40%, and
RMSE 28.549 31.534 28.701 50% (by mass) of LM were employed. The quantity of both activators
NSE 0.166 0.957 0.969 was kept constant i.e., 10% with SS/SH of 1.5. The sand-to-binder ratio
R 0.980 0.940 0.989
was also kept constant at 1. In phase 2, the focus is kept on investigating
RRMSE 0.034 0.035 0.035
Pif 0.022 0.043 0.027 the behavior of different five activator ratios i.e., 60 % SS and 40% SH,
OF 0.031 70% SS and 30% SH, 80 %SS and 20% SH, 90% SS and 10 % SH and
100% SS with 0% SH respectively. These percentages of different vari­
ables were selected according to investigations conducted in the previ­
make informed decisions regarding the source materials to be utilized to ous studies [19,31,41]. FA/Lime and binder/sand ratios were kept
achieve the desired characterized AAM for various applications. constant at 1.5 and 1 respectively. In phase 3, only sand/binder was
Current research shows the development of one-part AAM by using changed by keeping all other inputs constant. Five sand/binder ratios of
FA and LM as main precursors to provide alumina and silica for the 0.8, 1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.8 were used to evaluate the both rheological
polymerization process. The experimental behavior of samples with parameters and CS of AAM specimens. More details about mix design
varying inputs was investigated. A database of CS and plastic viscosity can be found in the previous study [42]. The Napthplast superplasticizer
(PV) and yield strength (YS) was made based on experimental testing. was used to enhance the workability with a constant amount of 1% of
The interpretable ML-based technique, GEP, was used to optimize and binder in all specimens. The water/binder ratio was kept between 0.38
estimate CS, PV, and YS. The GEP results were presented in the form of and 0.42 to gain the suitable workability range(130 mm to 150 mm flow
three mathematical models. Additionally, Shapley Additive exPlana­ diameter) for all samples. For all stages, the water/binder ratio was kept
tions (SHAP) are used to interpret the anticipated CS and rheology by constant at 0.4.
GEP, and the impact of various factors, both alone and in combination
with other parameters, is assessed and thoroughly described. The
2.3. Compressive strength
interpretable ML approach employed in the current study helped with
the development and performance tinkering of robust and long-lasting
All of the samples were tested for compressive (ASTM C109) and
one-part AAMs for wider applications.
flexural strength (ASTM C 348) tests for 7, 14, and 28 days to observe the
hardening characteristics. Samples were placed for ambient curing until
2. Research methodology
the day of testing after being cured for 24 h at 80 ◦ C. At loading rates of
2.5 KN/s tests for CS were accomplished.
2.1. Experimental program
2.4. Rheology measurement
FA and LM were the two primary precursors employed in the current
study. The goal was to create a unique one-part AAM using FA and
An ICAR rheometer [43] with a 4-blade vane apparatus was utilized
hydraulic lime (LM) that were easily accessible in the area. The FA and
to assess the rheological parameters of the formulated mixes. Bingham’s
LM were obtained from a small industrial state in the city of Abbottabad.
parameters were assessed using the flow curve, and static yield stress
The chemical analysis of FA and LM was discovered using an X-ray
was assessed using a stress-growth test. The alkali-activated mortar was
fluorescence test (XRF), as reported in Table 1. By detecting the fluo­
blended before being placed into the rheometer for testing. The testing
rescence (or secondary) X-ray that a sample emits during the activation
procedure was conducted in agreement with the previous research [44].
by a main X-ray source, XRF analyzers assess the composition of a
sample. FA contains more silica and alumina but has very less calcium
2.5. Machine learning techniques
content. However, LM was used to achieve more calcium content for
geopolymerization reactions, along with low-calcium FA. LM and FA
The GEP has been widely employed and higher accuracy of the
were examined using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) test to determine their
outputs has been illustrated by many researchers for the prediction of CS
crystallinity and amorphous phases. To investigate the impact on the
and other properties of OPC concrete and AAM/geopolymers
tensile strength and workability of produced AAM mortars, two kinds of
[36,45–49]. The fundamental ideas are based on Darwin’s theory of
solid alkaline activators, sodium silicate (SS) and sodium hydroxide
evolution and Mendel’s genetic theory of the law of evolution [61]. In

5
S. Nazar et al.
Fig. 5. (a) Error Graph and (b) Correlation factor (R2) plot for CS.
GEP, modeling is carried out by adding linear chromosomes of static
length as well as parse trees in the language of genes and expression
trees (ETs). The chosen parameters are all set by genetic programming
(GP), including fitness function, end set, end conditions, etc (GP) [50].
The generation of a certain number of chromosomes serves as the
starting point for GEP modeling, which is done in the “Karva” language
(a combination of symbols and characters). While GEP processes data
using a string with a predetermined set length, GP employs parse tees of
various lengths. Although each of these unique strings is initially
employed as a fixed-size genome, eventually non-linear expression trees
are created with branched architectures that have different chromosome
features [51]. The GEP encodes these genotypes and phenotypes indi­
vidually. The single linear genome is passed to the following production
via GEP, preventing mutation and duplication of the overall structure
[52]. In this study, the GEP approach is employed to predict CS and
rheological parameters of the synthesized one-part AAM mortar. A brief
description of the employed methods is given in the proceeding section:
2.6. Data description
The novel ML algorithm GEP was used in the current study. For the
6
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
synthesis of GEP models, a complete database consisting of 180 CS
(MPa) and 71 rheological parameters (YS, PV) data points of the
developed AAM mortar were collected from the experimental work in
the current study. The information on the dataset employed for the
modeling has been provided in the Supplementary data. The eight most
influencing input parameters include Fly ash(FA), hydraulic lime (LM),
sodium silicate(SS), sodium hydroxide(SH), water/binder ratio(w/b),
sand/binder ratio, curing temperature (CT), and age of the sample (A)
testing were taken for modeling purpose. The detailed statistical
descriptive analysis of all input parameters and outcome values is
illustrated in Table 2 and Table 3.
2.7. Model structure formation GEP
The development of GEP models starts by selecting the most
appropriate input parameters. In the current study, GeneXpro v5.0 was
employed, and eight most influential input parameters were selected for
CS, and seven factors were chosen for the prediction of rheological pa­
rameters of the developed AAM mortar (see Eqs. (1) and (2)). To create a
GEP-based empirical model for AAM, both datasets were trained and
tested during the modeling process. 70% of the datasets were used for
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Fig. 6. (a) Error graph and (b) Correlation factor (R2) plot for PV.

training, 15% for testing, and 15% were employed for validation of the (3)–(9) expresses the mathematical equations for the statistical checks
model as suggested in the previous study [53]. Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 depict mentioned above.
the architecture of the GEP algorithm and flowchart of the adapted ∑n
|ai − pi |
research methodology. MAE = i=1 (3)
n
Sand water
CS(MPa), = FA, HL, SS, SH, , , CTandcuringage (1) ∑n
Binder bnder (ai − pi )2
RSE = ∑i=1
n 2
(4)
i=1 (a − ai )
water
Rheologicalparameters = FA, HL, SS, SH, s/b, , TM (2)
bnder √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
∑n 2
i=1 (ai − pi )
RMSE = (5)
n
2.8. Performance measures and the evaluation criteria for the developed
models ∑n
(ai − pi )2
NSE = 1 − ∑i=1
n 2
(6)
i=1 (ai − pi )
The statistical efficiency of the GEP was checked for three subsets i.
e., training, testing, and validation. Six statistical methods including the √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
∑n
relative squared error (RSE), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean
2
1 i=1 (ai − pi )
RRMSE = (7)
square error (RMSE), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), and relative root |a| n
mean square error (RRMSE), coefficient of determination (R2), correla­ ∑n
tion factor (R) were measured for the developed model [52,54–57]. i=1 (ai − ai )(pi − pi )
R = √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ (8)
Moreover, all the developed models were evaluated by the performance ∑n 2 ∑n 2
i=1 (ai − ai ) i=1 (pi − pi )
index factor (Pif), which is mainly controlled by RRMSE and R [58]. Eqs.

7
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Fig. 7. (a) Error graph and (b) Correlation factor (R2) plot for YS.

√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
∑n ̅
2
1 (ai − pi )
i=1

(9)
|a| n
Pif =
1+R

where ai and pi are the ith actual and anticipated (output) values,
respectively; ai and pi shows the mean values of the actual and output
values and n shows the total number of tests respectively. Generally, the
efficiency of any model is indicated by the performance indicator R,
which illustrates the relative correlation between the anticipated and
actual values (ai and pi). The value of R > 0.8 represents a strong cor­
relation between the actual(experimental) and predicted output values.
However, factor R is found unresponsive to both division and multipli­
cation. Therefore, factor R2 was calculated for both actual and predicted
results due to its balanced estimation results and better performance. R2
values closer to 1 show the higher efficiency of the developed model
[59,60]. Similarly, RMSE efficiently addressed the larger values of error.
RMSE value closer to zero shows the minimal effect of errors and better
Fig. 8. Mean SHAP values used for input parameters.
performance of the developed model [61,62]. However, MAE was found
more significant in the case of smooth and continuous data [63].
Overall, lower values of the above-calculated errors increase the accu­
racy of the model. The value of the performance index factor Pif varies
zero from to infinity. However, values closer to zero show better effi­
ciency than the developed models [64].

8
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Fig. 9. SHAP Summary Plot indication impact of input parameters on CS.

The overfitting of the models due to unnecessary training data points based on hyperparameters such as head size and the number of chro­
is a concerning issue in many AI-based machine-learning algorithms mosomes (see Table 4), the GEP algorithm has developed the output
[65]. It may decrease training errors and increase testing errors. To models in the form Expression Trees, The sub-ETs of CS, PV, and yield
overcome this issue, the objective function (OF), as shown in Eq. (10) is stress generally consist of four basic mathematical operators i.e., +, − , x,
employed. and ÷, cubic root and, average function. In the end, the result is pro­
(η − ηv ) (η ) vided in the form of a mathematical expression which is formed by the
OF = Train PiTrain + 2 v PiV (10) decoding of sub-ETs obtained through GEP modeling. The mathematical
η η
out result of both output values is shown in Eqs. (11)–(13) which can be
where, η, T, and V illustrate the number of experimental datasets, used in the future for the prediction of CS and rheological parameters of
training, and validation (or testing) data points respectively. OF value the AAM mortar. The mathematical models illustrate an accuracy of
closer to zero indicates the better efficiency of the predictive model. more than 90%. However, these equations can only predict the CS, PV,
and YS of AAM specimens for a FA replacement with LM in the range of
0 to 50%. For rheology, more experimental work can enhance the effi­
2.9. SHAP analysis ciency and accuracy of the models.
⎛⎛ ⎞ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
Using a game-theory application recognized as SHAP, the current ( d1 ) (
study calculated the global feature impacts and examined feature re­ ⎜⎜ 0.347 ⎟ ⎟ ⎜ (d7+d3) ⎟
Y(cs) = ⎜ ⎜
⎝⎝ d0 ⎠
⎟ − (d4 × d2) ⎟ − ⎝
⎠
2
⎠ + (d3
lationships with AAM [66]. By calculating cumulative effect, consid­ ( − 0.947)
ering attributes, and employing SHAP values generated from the ( ) ) ((
coalition game theory, each case of prediction is proved using this (d6 − d0) d42
+ d3) + + − 4.058 + 4.355
method. The effect of each attribute on the SHAP value is roughly d4 2
averaged across all possible combinations. The impact of features is √ ̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ ) )
3
+ (d2 − d0) + (d4 × d1) (11)
directly related to the SHAP values. The global impact of each feature is
estimated using the mean of the SHAP value of each input [67]. The (√
jupyter notebook in anaconda navigator was used for SHAP analysis. Y(PV) = 3(d6 − d5) − (d4
The plotting of SHAP values is then performed after these values are ) ((d4 − d1))
((√
arranged in descending order of relevance. The SHAP value of each − d3) + + 4.212 + 3(7.658 −
d0
)×(
ingredient is represented by a single point on the SHAP plot. The SHAP 7.0820 (d1 + 1.648)
values and the importance of a feature are displayed on the X and Y axes, )
((
respectively. A color slope from bright to dark is used to show the − 3.554) + (3.554) + d1
relevance of the characteristic’s higher placement on the Y axis, which
)
denotes the stronger impact on the output. SHAP plots with a color √
3
̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅) )
theme represent feature interaction and their impact on the outcomes. − d4 − (d5 × d6 (d6) + ((0.477 + d3) × ( − 0.477))

(12)
3. Results and discussion

3.1. Formulation of the GEP model

The GeneXpro v5.0 was employed for the modeling purpose. To

derive a mathematical relationship for determining the CS, PV, and YS,

9
S. Nazar et al. Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014

Fig. 10. Interaction of constituents and their impact on CS: (a) Fly ash (b) slaked/hydraulic lime (c) Sodium silicate (d) Sodium hydroxide (e) sand/binder (f) water/
binder (g) Curing temp (h) specimen age.

10
S. Nazar et al.
Fig. 11. SHAP Summary Plot indication impact of input parameters on PV.
(( ̅̅̅̅̅)
Y(YS) =
√
3
d5 − (d0 + 3.903) × d2 + (((d2 × d1)
+ d1 ) + (d1 + d1) ) + (((d2 × ( − 0.618) − (d2 × 9.810) − 3.168 )
− d1 ) − d1 ) + (((d0 + d1) × 7.434 ) + (d4 × (d6
(√ ) minimum, and maximum errors for PV were recorded as 0.03, and 7.56,
+ 0.203)) ) + 3(d4 − (d0 × (d1 − d0) ) ) + (d6 − d0)
(13)
3.2. Statistical performance of the GEP model
For the establishment of an efficient AI-based model from the data­
sets, a few authors suggested keeping the ratio of entire data records to
the total number of inputs should be kept at least 5 [58]. However, in
this study, this ratio is kept to 22 and 10 for compressive strength and
rheological parameters respectively. The robustness of the formulated
models depends upon the values of the following statistical checks MAE,
NSE RMSE, RSE, RRMSE, Pif, and OF. Thus, to evaluate the efficacy and
competence of the formulated models, the values of statistical checks
were measured for training, testing, and validation datasets. Table 5
illustrates the values of statistical checks for CS. The values of MAE for
CS and PV were found lesser than the YS. The least values of the pa­
rameters show the higher accuracy of the established mathematical
models.
3.3. Regression analysis of GEP models
The GEP models were established for CS(MPa) and both rheological
parameters (PV and YS) by using 180 and 71 data points respectively.
Table 5 describes the value of R (training, test, and valid) recorded as
0.963, 0.946, and 0.927 for compressive strength (CS), for PV R-values
were found as 0.946, 0.895, and 0.962. For YS, R-values were recorded
as 0.98, 0.94, and 0.989 for training, testing, and validation datasets
respectively. The values of MAE, RSE, and RMSE were found 1.7, 0.074,
and 4.826, for the training dataset which is lower than both the testing
and validation datasets. However, a higher NSE value was recorded for
the training set. A similar trend was observed for both YS and PV with
MAE, RSE, and NSE values recorded lower for training as compared to
testing and validation datasets. The values of RRMSE, Pif, and OF were
quite lower and closer to zero. The lower OF values indicate the over­
fitting issue has been resolved. Thus, these developed GEP models show
better efficacy in terms of predictability and provide results in the shape
11
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
of a mathematical equation. Fig. 5a and Fig. 5b represent the total error
between predicted and actual values from data sets for CS and values of
correlation factors respectively. The minimum and maximum errors
were reported at 0.008 and 6.479 respectively for a CS. However,
and for YS errors were 0.1 and 99.68 respectively (see Fig. 5a, Fig. 6a,
and Fig. 7a). The overall R2 value was recorded as 0.92, 0.89, and 0.96
for CS, PV, and YS respectively, which indicates a good relationship
between the model and collected values (See Fig. 5b, Fig. 6b, and
Fig. 7b).
3.4. Impact analysis of input parameters on CS
To achieve low-order polynomial complexity, a tree-specific SHAP
algorithm employs the internal structure of the models and combines it
with a set of computations particular to the leaf node of the tree model
[31,68]. Fig. 8 displays the mean SHAP values for various features based
on the CS predictions of the GEP model. The specimen age of specimen
has the maximum SHAP value, followed by FA and lime content, ac­
cording to the GEP model’s results. It shows that FA, LM, s/b, sodium
silicate, and sodium hydroxide are the most prominent factors in pre­
dicting the CS of one-part alkali-activated mortar. These findings are
consistent with experimental research done as part of this study, which
showed that changes in FA, LM, and activator content significantly affect
the CS of the specimens measured after 7, 14, and 28 days. This suggests
that SHAP analysis is appropriate for identifying the fundamental
characteristics of the ML model created in this study.
Fig. 9 displays the SHAP summary graphic for the testing dataset.
The complete dataset uses the SHAP tree explanation to give a more
comprehensive explanation of local SHAP explanations and global
feature impacts. The color shows the range of the feature value, whereas
the x-axis shows the SHAP value or the contribution of the feature to the
anticipated outcome. For example, red color points on the right-hand
side represent larger values of specimen age while blue color points on
the left-hand side reflect lower values of specimen age. It reflects with CS
increases with the age of the specimen. After specimen age, more impact
of AS-precursors was found on the CS of the developed AAM mortars.
Since AS-precursors directly react with the activators and form higher
strength AAM binder. For both FA and LM, red color values are ­
observed on the left side and blue color values are found on the right-
hand side. These results reveal that increasing FA and LM content
from a certain limit may lead to a decrease in CS. This effect is found
S. Nazar et al.
Fig. 12. Interaction of AAM constituents and their impact on PV: (a) Fly ash (b) hydraulic lime (c) Sodium silicate (d) Sodium hydroxide (e) sand/binder (f) TM.
more critical in the case of FA. These results are in line with the previous
investigations [69]. Sodium silicate (SS) has more red dots on the pos­
itive side which reflects the increase in strength with an increase in the
SS content [70]. However, increasing sodium hydroxide (SH) from a
specific limit causes a decrease in CS. Therefore, it makes sense that the
highest dependency of CS is on FA and LM content. The comparatively
lesser dependence of CS on the w/b ratio is another notable finding of
the SHAP research. But this depends on the dataset that was employed in
the current investigation. More data sets can be used to provide more
accurate results.
Fig. 10 describes the relationship between constituents and their
impact on the CS of the developed AAM mortar. Fig. 10a illustrates the
interaction of FA with the age of the samples. The graph illustrates
increment of FA decreases the CS after a certain limit. In contrast, slaked
or hydraulic lime (LM) interacts with the sand/binder (s/b) ratio and has
a positive effect on the CS (see Fig. 10b). By increasing, the LM and s/b
12
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
ratio CS of the AAM binder increases, as shown in the experimental
results. In addition, Fig. 10c and Fig. 10d show that both SS and SH
interact with specimen age. However, Both SS and SH show a positive
effect until a certain limit. For instance, SS shows a detrimental effect if
increased from a certain limit. The addition of LM and SS leads to an
increase in geopolymerization reaction and the formation of a denser
hydration product. Therefore, better AAM specimens with higher CS are
formed. These findings are found in agreement with the [71,72]. How­
ever, increasing SH content had a positive effect along with specimen
age. Fig. 10e and Fig. 10f show the interaction of s/b and w/b with the
specimen age. Decreasing both ratios, widely increases the CS of the
developed AAM mortar. These findings show agreement with the pre­
vious studies which show the increase in CS of geopolymer with an in­
crease in sand-to-binder ratio up to a certain limit [73]. Therefore, it
should have less water in it to make it stronger. Fig. 10g shows the
interaction of curing temperature with FA. CS increases slightly with a
S. Nazar et al.
Fig. 13. SHAP Summary Plot indication impact of input parameters on YS.
rise in curing temperature. Fig. 10h demonstrates that specimen age is
linked with curing temperature. As the days passed up to 28 days of
testing, the specimen shows higher CS than at 7 and 14 days. Utilizing
FA and LM up to the optimum amount caused an improvement in the CS
of AAM mortars. Therefore, the FA to LM ratio may be utilized in the
range of 1.5 to 4 to achieve suitable CS and flowability results.
3.5. Impact analysis of input parameters on PV
Fig. 11 displays the SHAP summary plot illustrating the effect of
input parameters on PV. The complete dataset uses the SHAP tree
explanation to give a more comprehensive explanation of local SHAP
explanations aVnd global feature impacts. FA shows more red values on
the left-hand side and blue on the right-hand side. This reflects if FA is
decreased, the PV reduces significantly. While for LM, the effect is more
on the positive side, where LM content increases the PV. SS-activator
showed more impact on the negative side while SH has shown posi­
tive effects on the PV and increases the PV with increasing the SH
content as shown in previous studies by [74,75]. With time after mixing,
flocculation of particles occurs due to wandering wall forces between
the particles or the formation of irreversible flocculation due to the
development of C-A-S-H gel [76]. In both cases, PV increases with time
at rest after mixing. Increasing the fine aggregate sand/binder ratio also
increases PV. These results were found in line with [77]. However, to get
more accurate impact results of s/b and w/b more data points are
required for analysis.
Fig. 12a illustrates the graph of the interaction of AAM constituents
and their impact on PV. Fig. 12a and Fig. 12b illustrate that FA and LM
directly interact with SS and PV decreases with increasing the FA con­
tent. In contrast, LM also interacts with SS but the impact on PV in­
creases with increases in LM content as proved in experimental results
[22]. The increase of LM content increases the polymerization reactions.
The flocculation of particles becomes faster due to the formation of
hydration products. These results indicate the similarity with GGBFS-
based AAM, where PV decreases with an increase in GGBFS content
[78]. In addition, Fig. 12c and Fig. 12d show that both SS and SH
interact with FA content. However, the addition of SS shows a more
negative impact on PV while SH shows a very limited positive effect on
the PV of the developed AAM mortars. Similar results were obtained by
the researcher Dai et al.[79], where experimental results confirm the
decrease in the PV with a decrease in the SS activator of FA/GGBS-based
13
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
AAM. This may be due to the fast alkalinization of the SS activator.
Fig. 12e and Fig. 12f show the interaction of s/b and time after mixing
(TM) with the FA. Increasing the s/b ratio increases the plastic viscosity
gradually. These results show the flowability of mortars is more sensitive
to solid content. In fact, aggregate sizes have a more prominent impact
on the rheology of AAM. Small size sand particles may fill the pores and
cause resistance to flow. Thus, increasing the PV of AAMs [78]. As time
passes, flocculation occurs, and the formation of hydrated products oc­
curs which will increase PV. However, the w/b effect is still unclear
because of the lack of data values with different w/b ratios.
3.6. Impact analysis of input parameters on YS
Fig. 13 displays the SHAP Summary plot illustrating the effect of
input parameters on YS. FA and LM have shown a similar effect on YS as
shown on PV. FA has shown more impact on the negative side while YS
increases with an increase in LM content. Ca-enriched LM increases the
formation of C-A-S-H gels which increases the strength. However, fast
flocculation occurred at earlier stages due to the interaction of particles
and fast hydration reactions by the addition of both LM and SS activa­
tors. Therefore, mortar needs much initial energy to start flow causing
the rise in YS values. These findings are similar to the experimental
results done by [80]. SS increases SS and SH reduces the YS as shown by
the impact analysis Fig. 13. With time after mixing, the flocculation of
fragments increases which increase the yield stress as shown in the
previous studies by [81]. However, to get more accurate impact results
of s/b and w/b more data points are required for analysis.
Fig. 14 depicts the interaction between AAM constituents and their
influence on the YS of the developed AAM mortar. Fig. 14a and Fig. 14b
illustrate the interaction of FA with SS. However, results show a
decreasing trend of YS with increasing content of FA and by growing LM
content YS increases. SS and SH interact more with FA same as in the
case of PV. However, SS increases the YS while SH reduces the YS of the
developed AAM mortars with increases in their quantity (see Fig. 14c
and Fig. 14d). These results are in line with the investigations done by
[82]. Experimental results were verified by these SHAP results analysis.
In addition, Fig. 14e shows that the s/b ratio interacts with FA. However,
at the s/b ratio of 1, YS was increased but later the effect was constant.
Fig. 14f shows that both TM interacts with FA and as time passes yield
stress increases. With an increase, the structural build-up rises due to the
interaction between particles and hydration reactions, therefore causing
S. Nazar et al.
Fig. 14. Interaction of constituents of AAM and their impact on YS: (a) Fly ash (b) Hydraulic lime (c) Sodium silicate (d) Sodium hydroxide (e) s/b (f) TM.
the rise in YS [83]. These SHAP results verify the obtained experimental
results. However, the effect of the s/b and w/b ratios is still unpredict­
able on PV and YS due to a smaller number of data points with varying
quantities of mentioned ratios.
4. Conclusions
AAM materials are eco-friendly materials and show excellent me­
chanical properties and durability performance. The rheological pa­
rameters have been rarely explored for LM-based AAM. This research
has shown the experimental results and presented the mathematical
expressions for the future prediction of the CS and rheological param­
eters of the developed AAM specimens. The following conclusions can be
drawn after an in-depth investigation.
14
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
• The addition of hydraulic lime causes the densification of hydrated
products; thereby increasing the CS of the developed samples and a
compressive strength of 43 MPa has been achieved for the replace­
ment of FA up to 40% with LM. Thereafter, no significant increment
in the compressive strength has been noticed.
• The LM and SS-activator enhance the flocculation of particles caused
by the faster geopolymerization reactions which enhance both
rheological parameters up to a certain limit. However, after a 30%
addition of LM, no significant increase in plastic viscosity was
observed.
• GEP models have shown excellent performance and high general­
ization capability by illustrating a higher value of correlation factor
R2 for CS (0.92), PV (0.89), and YS (0.96) respectively.
• The performance index factor and objective function for the training
data set for CS, PV, and YS were found to be 0.031, 0.029, 0.033, and
S. Nazar et al.
0.024, 0.02, and 0.031 respectively, which was lowered than both
testing and validation datasets.
• The SHAP analysis revealed that FA and LM were the most critical
input parameter. The LM showed a strong positive impact on the YS
and PV while a negative impact was observed for the compressive
strength. While fly ash has shown a negative impact on all three
outcomes of PV, YS, and CS respectively. Due to the deficiency of
variance in the water-to-binder ratio in the data set, the effect w/b on
YS and PV was not properly explored by SHAP analysis.
Funding
The authors are grateful for the financial support of the Science
Research Plan of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology
Committee (Grant No. 20dz1201301, 21dz1204704), the Science and
Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (Grant No
2022A0505050077) and the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant No. 52078293). This work was also supported by the
Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies
and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Project
No. GRANT2912].
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sohaib Nazar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original
draft. Jian Yang: Supervision, Project administration, Writing – review
& editing. Xing-Er Wang: Software, Data curation and editing. Kaf­
fayatullah Khan: Software, Writing – review & editing, Validation.
Muhammad Nasir Amin: Software, Writing – original draft. Moham­
mad Faisal Javed: Software, Writing – original draft. Fadi Althoey:
Software, Writing – review & editing, Validation. Mujahid Ali: Soft­
ware, Data curation and editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
I have attached the file for used data.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131014.
References
[1] H.S. Hassan, et al., Cleaner production of one-part white geopolymer cement using
pre-treated wood biomass ash and diatomite, J. Clean. Prod. 209 (2019)
1420–1428.
[2] M. Khasreen, P. Banfill, G. Menzies, Life-Cycle Assessment and the Environmental
Impact of Buildings: A, Review 1 (2009).
[3] Z. Zhang, et al., Using fly ash to partially substitute metakaolin in geopolymer
synthesis, Appl. Clay Sci. 88–89 (2014) 194–201.
[4] M. Ali, R. Saidur, M. Hossain, A review on emission analysis in cement industries,
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 15 (5) (2011) 2252–2261.
[5] J. Alex, J. Dhanalakshmi, B. Ambedkar, Experimental investigation on rice husk
ash as cement replacement on concrete production, Constr. Build. Mater. 127
(2016) 353–362.
[6] J. Rissanen, et al., Partial replacement of portland-composite cement by fluidized
bed combustion fly ash, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 29 (8) (2017) 04017061.
[7] P. Duxson, et al., The role of inorganic polymer technology in the development of
‘green concrete’, Cem. Concr. Res. 37 (12) (2007) 1590–1597.
[8] L.K. Turner, F.G. Collins, Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions: A
comparison between geopolymer and OPC cement concrete, Constr. Build. Mater.
43 (2013) 125–130.
15
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
[9] G. Habert, J.D.E. De Lacaillerie, N. Roussel, An environmental evaluation of
geopolymer based concrete production: reviewing current research trends,
J. Clean. Prod. 19 (11) (2011) 1229–1238.
[10] B.C. McLellan, et al., Costs and carbon emissions for geopolymer pastes in
comparison to ordinary portland cement, J. Clean. Prod. 19 (9–10) (2011)
1080–1090.
[11] T. Stengel, D. Heinz, J. Reger, Life cycle assessment of geopolymer concrete–what
is the environmental benefit, in: Proceeding of the 24th Biennial Conference of the
Concrete Institute of Australia, 2009.
[12] C. Ma, et al., Preparation of cleaner one-part geopolymer by investigating different
types of commercial sodium metasilicate in China, J. Clean. Prod. 201 (2018)
636–647.
[13] J.L. Provis, Alkali-activated materials, Cem. Concr. Res. 114 (2018) 40–48.
[14] C. Ma, et al., Properties and characterization of green one-part geopolymer
activated by composite activators, J. Clean. Prod. 220 (2019) 188–199.
[15] P. Nath, P.K. Sarker, Flexural strength and elastic modulus of ambient-cured
blended low-calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 130
(2017) 22–31.
[16] K. Neupane, Evaluation of environmental sustainability of one-part geopolymer
binder concrete, Clean. Mater. 6 (2022), 100138.
[17] Y.-S. Wang, Y. Alrefaei, J.-G. Dai, Roles of hybrid activators in improving the early-
age properties of one-part geopolymer pastes, Constr. Build. Mater. 306 (2021),
124880.
[18] J.L. Provis, Geopolymers and other alkali activated materials: why, how, and
what? Mater. Struct. 47 (1) (2014) 11–25.
[19] S.F.A. Shah, et al., Improvement of early strength of fly ash-slag based one-part
alkali activated mortar, Constr. Build. Mater. 246 (2020), 118533.
[20] D. Jiao, et al., Effect of constituents on rheological properties of fresh concrete-A
review, Cem. Concr. Compos. 83 (2017) 146–159.
[21] I. González-Taboada, et al., Tools for the study of self-compacting recycled
concrete fresh behaviour: Workability and rheology, J. Clean. Prod. 156 (2017)
1–18.
[22] C. Lu, et al., Rheology of alkali-activated materials: A review, Cem. Concr. Compos.
121 (2021), 104061.
[23] F. Puertas, C. Varga, M. Alonso, Rheology of alkali-activated slag pastes. Effect of
the nature and concentration of the activating solution, Cem. Concr. Compos. 53
(2014) 279–288.
[24] R. Vyas, P. Goel, S.S. Tambe, Genetic programming applications in chemical
sciences and engineering, in: Handbook of genetic programming applications,
Springer, 2015, pp. 99–140.
[25] A. Abhyankar, et al., Identification of flooded areas due to severe storm using
envisat asar data and neural networks, J. Civil Eng. Sci. Technol. 10 (2) (2019).
[26] J.E. Etu, O.J. Oyedepo, Forecasting Trip Generation For High Density Residential
Zones of Akure, Nigeria: Comparability of Artificial Neural Network And
Regression Models, J. Civil Eng. Sci. Technol. 9 (2) (2018).
[27] I. Yakub, et al., Employing an Artificial Neural Network in Correlating a Hydrogen-
Selective Catalytic Reduction Performance with Crystallite Sizes of a Biomass-
Derived Bimetallic Catalyst, Catalysts 12 (7) (2022) 779.
[28] A. Ahmad, et al., Prediction of Compressive Strength of Fly Ash Based Concrete
Using Individual and Ensemble Algorithm, Materials 14 (4) (2021) 794.
[29] A. Ahmad, et al., Compressive strength prediction of fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete via advanced machine learning techniques, Case Stud. Constr. Mater. 16
(2022) e00840.
[30] M.A. Khan, et al., Compressive Strength of Fly-Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete by
Gene Expression Programming and Random Forest, Adv. Civil Eng. 2021 (2021)
6618407.
[31] S. Shah, et al., Compressive strength prediction of one-part alkali activated
material enabled by interpretable machine learning, Constr. Build. Mater. 360
(2022), 129534.
[32] Y.X. Tang, et al., Artificial Neural Network-Forecasted Compression Strength of
Alkaline-Activated Slag Concretes, Sustainability 14 (9) (2022) 5214.
[33] S. Nazar, et al., Formulation of estimation models for the compressive strength of
concrete mixed with nanosilica and carbon nanotubes, Develop. Built Environ. 13
(2023), 100113.
[34] D.V. Dao, et al., Prediction of Compressive Strength of Geopolymer Concrete Using
Entirely Steel Slag Aggregates: Novel Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Approaches,
Appl. Sci. 9 (6) (2019) 1113.
[35] D.V. Dao, et al., Artificial Intelligence Approaches for Prediction of Compressive
Strength of Geopolymer Concrete, Materials 12 (6) (2019) 983.
[36] A. Ahmad, et al., Compressive Strength Prediction via Gene Expression
Programming (GEP) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for Concrete Containing
RCA, Buildings 11 (2021) 324.
[37] E. Gomaa, et al., Machine learning to predict properties of fresh and hardened
alkali-activated concrete, Cem. Concr. Compos. 115 (2021), 103863.
[38] M. Ali Khan, et al., Application of Gene Expression Programming (GEP) for the
Prediction of Compressive Strength of Geopolymer Concrete, Materials 14 (5)
(2021) 1106.
[39] S. Nazar, et al., Comparative study of evolutionary artificial intelligence
approaches to predict the rheological properties of fresh concrete, Mater. Today
Commun. 32 (2022), 103964.
[40] S. Nazar, et al., Rheological properties of cementitious composites with and
without nano-materials: A comprehensive review, J. Clean. Prod. 272 (2020),
122701.
[41] A.A. Shahmansouri, et al., Artificial neural network model to predict the
compressive strength of eco-friendly geopolymer concrete incorporating silica
fume and natural zeolite, J. Clean. Prod. 279 (2021), 123697.
S. Nazar et al.
[42] S. Nazar, et al., Formulation and characterization of cleaner one-part novel fly ash/
lime-based alkali-activated material, J. Mater. Res. Technol. 23 (2023) 3821–3839.
[43] A.N.E.W. Koehler, et al., Portable rheometer for fresh self-consolidating concrete a
new, portable rheometer for fresh self-consolidating concrete, ACI Mater. J. 233
(2006).
[44] F. Puertas, et al., Alkali-activated slag concrete: Fresh and hardened behaviour,
Cem. Concr. Compos. 85 (2018) 22–31.
[45] H.-H. Chu, et al., Sustainable use of fly-ash: Use of gene-expression programming
(GEP) and multi-expression programming (MEP) for forecasting the compressive
strength geopolymer concrete, Ain Shams Eng. J. 12 (4) (2021) 3603–3617.
[46] A.A. Shahmansouri, H. Akbarzadeh Bengar, S. Ghanbari, Compressive strength
prediction of eco-efficient GGBS-based geopolymer concrete using GEP method,
J. Build. Eng. 31 (2020), 101326.
[47] A. Nazari, F. Pacheco Torgal, Modeling the compressive strength of geopolymeric
binders by gene expression programming-GEP, Expert Syst. Appl. 40 (14) (2013)
5427–5438.
[48] S. Nazar, et al., An evolutionary machine learning-based model to estimate the
rheological parameters of fresh concrete, Structures 48 (2023) 1670–1683.
[49] S. Nazar, et al., Machine Learning Interpretable-Prediction Models to Evaluate the
Slump and Strength of Fly ash-based Geopolymer, J. Mater. Res. Technol. (2023).
[50] M. Sarıdemir, Genetic programming approach for prediction of compressive
strength of concretes containing rice husk ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 24 (10) (2010)
1911–1919.
[51] C. Ferreira, Gene expression programming: mathematical modeling by an artificial
intelligence, vol. 21, 2006, Springer.
[52] M.F. Iqbal, et al., Prediction of mechanical properties of green concrete
incorporating waste foundry sand based on gene expression programming,
J. Hazard. Mater. 384 (2020), 121322.
[53] A. Behnood, E.M. Golafshani, Predicting the compressive strength of silica fume
concrete using hybrid artificial neural network with multi-objective grey wolves,
J. Clean. Prod. 202 (2018) 54–64.
[54] S. Mohammadzadeh, et al., Prediction of compression index of fine-grained soils
using a gene expression programming model, Infrastructures 4 (2) (2019) 26.
[55] M.A. Shahin, Genetic programming for modelling of geotechnical engineering
systems, in: Handbook of Genetic Programming Applications, Springer, 2015,
pp. 37–57.
[56] H. Çanakcı, A. Baykasoğlu, H. Güllü, Prediction of compressive and tensile strength
of Gaziantep basalts via neural networks and gene expression programming,
Neural Comput. Appl. 18 (8) (2009) 1031–1041.
[57] I.O. Alade, M.A. Abd Rahman, T.A. Saleh, Predicting the specific heat capacity of
alumina/ethylene glycol nanofluids using support vector regression model
optimized with Bayesian algorithm, Sol. Energy 183 (2019) 74–82.
[58] A.H. Gandomi, D.A. Roke, Assessment of artificial neural network and genetic
programming as predictive tools, Adv. Eng. Softw. 88 (2015) 63–72.
[59] W. Zhang, et al., State-of-the-art review of soft computing applications in
underground excavations, Geosci. Front. 11 (4) (2020) 1095–1106.
[60] A.H. Alavi, et al., Design equations for prediction of pressuremeter soil deformation
moduli utilizing expression programming systems, Neural Comput. Appl. 23 (6)
(2013) 1771–1786.
[61] O. Kisi, J. Shiri, M. Tombul, Modeling rainfall-runoff process using soft computing
techniques, Comput. Geosci. 51 (2013) 108–117.
16
Construction and Building Materials 377 (2023) 131014
[62] I.O. Alade, M.A. Abd Rahman, T.A. Saleh, Modeling and prediction of the specific
heat capacity of Al2 O3/water nanofluids using hybrid genetic algorithm/support
vector regression model, Nano-Struct. Nano-Objects 17 (2019) 103–111.
[63] M.A. Shahin, Use of evolutionary computing for modelling some complex problems
in geotechnical engineering, Geomech. Geoeng. 10 (2) (2015) 109–125.
[64] A.H. Gandomi, et al., Nonlinear genetic-based models for prediction of flow
number of asphalt mixtures, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 23 (3) (2011) 248–263.
[65] S. Emamgholizadeh, et al., Estimation of soil dispersivity using soft computing
approaches, Neural Comput. Appl. 28 (1) (2017) 207–216.
[66] A.E. Roth, Introduction to the Shapley value, The Shapley value (1988) 1–27.
[67] G.A. Lyngdoh, et al., Prediction of concrete strengths enabled by missing data
imputation and interpretable machine learning, Cem. Concr. Compos. 128 (2022),
104414.
[68] H.A. Alkadhim, et al., Evaluating the Strength and Impact of Raw Ingredients of
Cement Mortar Incorporating Waste Glass Powder Using Machine Learning and
SHapley Additive ExPlanations (SHAP) Methods, Materials 15 (20) (2022) 7344.
[69] B. Nematollahi, J. Sanjayan, Effect of different superplasticizers and activator
combinations on workability and strength of fly ash based geopolymer, Mater. Des.
57 (2014) 667–672.
[70] B. Nematollahi, J. Sanjayan, F.U.A. Shaikh, Synthesis of heat and ambient cured
one-part geopolymer mixes with different grades of sodium silicate, Ceram. Int. 41
(4) (2015) 5696–5704.
[71] S. M, J. R, R.N. P, Effect of change in the silica modulus of sodium silicate solution
on the microstructure of fly ash geopolymers, J. Build. Eng. 44 (2021) 102939.
[72] M.I. Rasuli, et al., A consideration on the one-part mixing method of alkali-
activated material: problems of sodium silicate solubility and quick setting,
Heliyon 8 (1) (2022) e08783.
[73] A.Z.W. Wazien, et al., Strength and Density of Geopolymer Mortar Cured at
Ambient Temperature for Use as Repair Material, IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng.
133 (1) (2016), 012042.
[74] Z. Huanhai, et al., Kinetic study on hydration of alkali-activated slag, Cem. Concr.
Res. 23 (6) (1993) 1253–1258.
[75] M. Palacios, et al., Early reactivity of sodium silicate-activated slag pastes and its
impact on rheological properties, Cem. Concr. Res. 140 (2021), 106302.
[76] N. Roussel, A thixotropy model for fresh fluid concretes: Theory, validation and
applications, Cem. Concr. Res. 36 (10) (2006) 1797–1806.
[77] M. Westerholm, et al., Influence of fine aggregate characteristics on the rheological
properties of mortars, Cem. Concr. Compos. 30 (4) (2008) 274–282.
[78] M. Alonso, et al., Alkali-activated mortars: Workability and rheological behaviour,
Constr. Build. Mater. 145 (2017) 576–587.
[79] X. Dai, et al., Rheology and structural build-up of sodium silicate- and sodium
hydroxide-activated GGBFS mixtures, Cem. Concr. Compos. 131 (2022), 104570.
[80] X. Qu, et al., Heat release characteristics of lime and time-dependent rheological
behaviors of lime-activated fly ash pastes, Case Stud. Constr. Mater. 16 (2022)
e01043.
[81] H. Mehdizadeh, et al., Rheology of activated phosphorus slag with lime and
alkaline salts, Cem. Concr. Res. 113 (2018) 121–129.
[82] X. Dai, et al., Effects of activator properties and GGBFS/FA ratio on the structural
build-up and rheology of AAC, Cem. Concr. Res. 138 (2020), 106253.
[83] M. Palacios, F. Puertas, Effect of superplasticizer and shrinkage-reducing
admixtures on alkali-activated slag pastes and mortars, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (7)
(2005) 1358–1367.