Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Compressive strength prediction models of lightweight aggregate

concretes using ultrasonic pulse velocity
Yifan Zhang a, Farhad Aslani a,b,⇑
a
Materials and Structures Innovation Group, School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, WA, Australia
b
School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, WA, Australia

h i g h l i g h t s

A database containing 603 pairs of data was compiled.

Multivariable nonlinear and BPNN regression models were proposed.

BPNN model proposed was optimized by Genetic Algorithm.

Numerical regression model was reasonable for rough predictions manually.

GA-BPNN model was able to produce accurate estimations.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Replacement of natural coarse aggregate with lightweight aggregate (LWA) offers not only the specific
Received 13 December 2020 properties of concrete such as thermal, acoustic properties, or lighter weight concrete but is also dealing
Received in revised form 10 March 2021 with wasted materials recycling and natural resources depletion. Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is clo-
Accepted 17 April 2021
sely correlated to both mechanical and physical properties of concrete and it is introduced and used to
Available online 3 May 2021
predict the compressive strength of concrete structures. This paper proposes two prediction models for
compressive strength of lightweight aggregate concrete, a regression model and a back-propagation neu-
Keywords:
ral network (BPNN) incorporating UPV for different accuracy requirements. The regression model is a fur-
Lightweight aggregates
Lightweight aggregate concrete
ther generalised regression model for estimating compressive strength from UPV of lightweight
Compressive strength aggregate concrete (LWAC) that can be adapted to different testing systems. The BPNN model, optimised
Prediction models by a genetic algorithm, is also employed for more accurate predictions compared to the regression model.
Regression To achieve this, a database which comprises a total of 603 sets of data from 26 different studies was com-
BPNN piled. In addition, the database also involves wide ranges of sizes of coarse aggregates (4 mm – 40 mm)
Genetic Algorithm and LWAs (0.65 mm – 30 mm), volume ratios of coarse aggregate to binder (0.53 – 9.66) and sand to
aggregate (0 to 5.99), LWA volume fraction (0 – 100%), water to binder ratio (0.3 – 0.89), and curing time
(1 day to 120 days). Statistical results indicate that regression model and BPNN model can produce a rea-
sonable estimation of compressive strength for lightweight aggregate concrete but with different accu-
racy level. Hence, the two proposed models can be used to adapt to different expectations of accuracy
in different situations.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abbreviations: ANN, Artificial neural network; BPNN, Backpropagation neural
network; f’c, Compressive strength; q, Density; qlwa, Density of lightweight
aggregate; GA, Genetic algorithm; LWA, Lightweight aggregate; LWC, Lightweight
concrete; LWAC, Lightweight aggregate concrete; Dagg, Maximum size of coarse
aggregate; Dlwa, Maximum size of lightweight aggregate; NWC, Normal weight
concrete; c, Ratio of coarse aggregate to binder by volume; s, Ratio of sand to
aggregate by volume; Rp, Replacement ratio of lightweight aggregate; UPV,
Ultrasonic pulse velocity; w, water to binder ratio.
⇑ Corresponding author at: Materials and Structures Innovation Group, School of
Engineering, The University of Western Australia, WA, Australia.
E-mail address: farhad.aslani@uwa.edu.au (F. Aslani).
1. Introduction
Lightweight aggregate (LWA), a kind of aggregates used in the
production of concretes or cementitious composites, is mainly com-
ing either from natural, synthetic and recycled. Some types of LWA
have been studied and used, e.g. scoria, pumice, expanded clay,
sintered fly ash, oil palm shell, palm oil clinker, brick chips, waste
rubber, etc [1–27]. The use of LWA is primarily to reduce the dead
load of concrete structures with acceptable strength and gain a
higher strength-weight ratio, especially for buildings or structures

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123419
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani
in seismically active areas compared to normal weight aggregate
(NWA) or high-density aggregate. Lightweight aggregate concrete
(LWAC) has a lower elastic modulus which can elongate the period
of natural vibration and has better deformability [28,29]. Besides
this, LWA also provides specific physical properties to concrete such
as thermal properties, fire resistance, and acoustic characteristics
[30]. Moreover, with the increasing awareness of natural resources
depletion and concerns of sustainability problems, using LWAC in
concrete production is also becoming popular.
There are a few successful applications of LWAC in real civil
constructions, such as high-strength precast LWAC was used for
construction of Wellington Stadium, New Zealand; Nanjing
Yangtze River Bridge, China [31]; and Shell Plaza in Houston,
USA. These examples indicate that LWAC is superior in some prop-
erties such as seismic performance, crack resistance, good durabil-
ity, fire resistance, or economic benefits. However, there are some
technical difficulties that need to be solved such as delamination,
pumpability, and problems related to shrinkage and creep [32] to
extend the use of LWAC. According to the literature, there are
many researchers currently working on these problems such as
developing self-compacting LWAC [33–35] and developing struc-
tural LWAC [36,37] for different environments.
Natural aggregate in LWAC is usually fully or partially replaced
by LWA depending on the requirement of different project. Develop-
ing a preferred mix design for LWAC is gaining specific properties by
introducing LWA but without deteriorating its mechanical beha-
viours. The mechanical property of concrete is evaluated either from
direct experimental tests or indirect approaches. Ultrasonic Pulse
Velocity (UPV) is one of the Non-Destructive Test (NDT) techniques
that not only provides a direct, safe, and a reliable assessment
approach for assessing the concrete’s performance but also is harm-
less to the concrete structure, especially for the existence. UPV
through a concrete mass is measured by the ratio of distance
between two transducer faces (m) and transit time (s) [38]. With
the fact that UPV is related to the elastic properties and density of
the concrete mass, UPV is then also correlated to the compressive
0 the interfacial transition zone (ITZ), and hence, have reduced the
strength (f c ) of mass. UPV is therefore being used as one of the reli-
0
able prediction indicators for f c and other mechanical properties as
well as some physical properties such as setting time [39], segrega-
0
tion [40] and integrity [41]. Regarding the f c , the proposed relation-
0
ships between UPV and f c for LWAC by other researchers vary largely
because of that each model was developed and obtained from differ-
ent size of aggregate, curing time or conditions, as well as different
mix designs. Therefore, their general applicability of estimating
the strength for different mix is limited which means the models
must be re-calibrated before estimating for each mix.
Consequently, this paper aims to develop a more general predic-
tion model that can be used for estimating the compressive strength
of LWAC with different mixes. To achieve this, a multivariable non-
linear regression model and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN)
model were considered for different accuracy requirement. Gener-
ally, ANN model not only can produce the relatively more accurate
estimations but also requires much heavier computation work
which is usually executed by certain programs or softwares. Accord-
ingly, for some cases where no softwares or programs could be used
or calculations must be done manually, such as site measurement,
regression model would be easier for approximate estimation com-
pared to ANN model. To develop such models, a database comprising
603 pairs of data from 26 different research papers was compiled.
2. Parameters affecting f c and UPV
0
Main governing parameters affecting f c of normal weight con-
crete (NWC) are water to binder ratio (w), maximum size of coarse
2
Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419
aggregates in mm (Dagg), maximum size of lightweight aggregates
in mm (Dlwa), volumetric ratio of coarse aggregate to binder (c),
volumetric ratio of sand to aggregate (s), LWA replacement ratio
(Rp), and specimen density (q). Moreover, considering the fact that
different types of LWA are also affecting the physical and mechan-
ical behaviours of LWC, therefore, in this case, the density of LWA
(qlwa) is also considered as one of the main governing factors to
represent the difference in types of LWA. These governing factors
are then called predictors to unify the expressions for the govern-
ing factors and distinguish with other input parameters.
2.1. Water to binder ratio, w
It has been reported that with the increase in water to binder
0
ratio (w) both UPV and f c at different ages are decreased, which
is agreed with a higher w ratio more microscopic pores within
the specimen will be formed and consequently lead to a reduction
in both physical and mechanical properties [42].
The observed frequencies and variations of average compressive
strength and UPV with water to binder ratio for complete database
can be viewed in
Fig. 1. The database comprises the data of w from 0.3 to 0.9. In
addition, according to linear fittings of averaged scatter (as shown
0
in Fig. 1 b) for each interval of w, it is evident that, both f c and UPV
are generally reduced significantly with the increase in w and this
is also agreed with the conclusions from other literature.
2.2. Maximum size of aggregates, Dagg
Several researchers have found that with the increase Dagg, the
0
f c of testing specimens are generally lower due to more weakening
aggregate structure caused by coarser particles [16,24,42–45]. It
also has been reported that, with coarser aggregates, UPV readings
increased for same aggregate content as coarser aggregates reduce
transmission time between two transducers faces [15,16,46].
Fig. 2 illustrates the observed frequencies of data collected and
the variations of average compressive strength and UPV with max-
imum size of aggregates (Dagg). The histogram shows that the data-
base collects the data with several sizes of coarse aggregates,
ranges from 4 mm to 40 mm, and aggregates from 10 mm to
20 mm is the majority. In addition, it is evident that, UPV is gener-
ally increased with coarser aggregates but the increase rate is
0
slowing down, while f c reaches the peak with approximately
15 mm aggregate and then starts to lose strength with coarser
aggregates. Data observation has opposite conclusion with litera-
tures, because the compressive strength is affected by the size of
aggregates but also governed by the type of natural aggregates
used for mixes.
2.3. Maximum size of LWA, Dlwa
0
For LWAC, the size of LWA also affects the UPV and f c . With
0
finer LWA, f c is reduced [20,42], because the contacting area
between LWA particles and cement matrix is larger and there is
poor adhesion between LWA particles and cement matrix
[11,20,47,48]. UPV readings with finer LWA are less than that with
0
coarser particles, because with finer particles, similar to f c , the con-
tacting area between LWA and cement matrix is larger, hence,
more microscopic pores within the space between LWA and
cement matrix are expected and the ultrasound signals transmit
slower in air than solids, and consequently, UPV is slowed with
finer LWA [20,42].
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani
Fig. 1. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with w.
Fig. 2. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with Dagg.
The variations of average compressive strength and UPV with a
maximum size of LWA (Dlwa) for complete database are shown in
Fig. 3. The histogram shows that the database comprises observa-
tions with various Dlwa which range from less than 2 mm to
10 mm. In addition, it is also evident that, though the trend for
0
averaged f c and UPV with the increase in Dlwa are not as obvious
as parameters previously discussed, however, the linear fitting still
indicated that increasing in Dlwa positively influenced either UPV or
0
f c limitedly.
2.4. Volumetric ratio of coarse aggregate to binder, c
Researchers have reported that content of overall coarse aggre-
gates is significantly affecting either normal-strength or high-
strength concrete [49]. It was reported that, increasing the coarse
0
aggregate content, f c of normal-strength concrete is enhanced
and for high-strength concrete, there is an optimal content for
coarse aggregate [49]. In this study, the volumetric ratio of overall
coarse aggregates to binder (c) is derived and used for further stud-
ies as the representative of the content of overall coarse
aggregates.
3
Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419
0
0
The data frequency of volumetric ratio of coarse aggregates to
binder (c) and the variations of average compressive strength and
UPV with c are shown in Fig. 4. It is evident that, with higher con-
tent of coarse aggregate used in mix, both UPV and compressive
strength intend to be reduced.
2.5. Volumetric ratio of sand to aggregate, s
Sand to overall aggregate ratio (s) is also having significant
0
impacts on both UPV and f c . It has been reported that, for the same
0 0
level of f c , UPV is reduced with the increase of s while f c is gener-
ally increased [50]. In this paper, volumetric ratio of s is employed
for future analyses to simplify the computation of regression.
The variations of average compressive strength and UPV with a
volumetric ratio of sand to aggregate (s) are shown in Fig. 5. The
histogram indicates that the database collects a wide range of data
of s ratio from 0 to 6 in maximum. According to the scatter plot and
linear fitting, it is evident that the influence of increasing the ratio
of s on UPV is minor and in a positive way while it is adversely
0
impacting f c with very limited extend as shown in Fig. 5 b.
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

0
Fig. 3. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with Dlwa.

0
Fig. 4. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with c

0
Fig. 5. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with s.

4
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani
2.6. Replacement ratio, Rp
For LWAC whose coarse aggregates are partially replaced by
0
LWA, the replacement ratio of LWA is strongly affecting both f c
and UPV. Researchers [6,22,23,27,42,51–54] reported that with
0
more fraction being replaced by LWA, f c and UPV are reduced signif-
icantly compared to concrete with natural normal weight aggre-
gates. The reductions in both mechanical and physical properties
of concrete are mainly attributed to the significant losses of strength
due to the poor adhesion between LWA and cement matrix which
accelerates cracking, accordingly the occurrence of failure. In this
paper, the replacement ratio is expressed as the volumetric percent-
age of LWA (Rp).
For some mixes, the coarse aggregate is not partially replaced
with LWA, therefore, the replacement ratio of coarse aggregates
is also critical in predicting the behaviours of compressive strength
or UPV. Based on the histogram, most mixes that are fully replaced
by LWA, and there is still a certain percentage of mixes are partially
replaced by LWA (as shown in Fig. 6). It is also evident that, with
the increase in Rp, the compressive strength firstly starts to
decrease with more coarse aggregates to be replaced and reaches
a peak at approximately 50% replacement and then continues to
drop down while UPV does not indicate an obvious trend.
2.7. Curing time, age
Curing time is one of the main principal factors affecting both
mechanical and physical properties of concrete structures for the
first 28 days, after that when the cement paste is set, it has very
0 men density is also one of the indicators reflecting both mechanical
minor increases in both UPV and f c [18,22,54–56]. In addition, cur-
ing condition is also heavily governing the behaviours of UPV and
0 0
f c . It was reported that UPV and f c from specimens cured in wet
condition are basically higher than that under dry condition. It is
mainly attributed to the fact that specimens under dry condition
lose water faster than specimens in the wet and this leads to poor
hydration which causes a reduction in both mechanical and phys-
ical properties of concrete [57].
The data frequency and variations of average compressive
strength and UPV with curing time (Age) is shown in Fig. 7. It is
evident that compressive strength is generally increased with
longer curing time while with longer curing time, the impact on
UPV is minor. In addition, as the effects of age especially after
7 days of curing on compressive strength and UPV are minor as
Fig. 6. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with Rp.
5
Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419
well as the number of data collected in the database less than
7 days are just a small fraction compared to the rest, and with
the consideration of simplifying the prediction model as much as
possible, age therefore will not be involved in future analyses
and developing the prediction model.
2.8. Specimen density, q
It has been reported that specimen density is also one of the
main parameters that reflects and represents the mechanical and
physical properties of concrete structures, because it is correlated
to the elastic modulus of concrete, and accordingly reflects the
compressive strength and UPV [58].
Fig. 8 shows the histogram of data frequency and variations of
average compressive strength and UPV with specimen density
(qÞ. The histogram indicates that, for the data collected, the major-
ity is less than 2000 kg/m3 and mainly located between 1800 to
2000 kg/m3. The scatter plot indicates a strong relationship
between q and either compressive strength or UPV as with denser
specimen, both compressive strength and UPV are enhanced.
2.9. LWA particle density, qlwa
The type of LWA is also influencing the mechanical and physical
behaviours of concrete structures. Researchers [23,59,60] reported
0
that for different types of LWA, the level of impacts towards f c and
UPV is different. Therefore, to involve the influences of different
types of LWA, this paper used the particle density of LWA (qlwa) to
distinguish the types of LWA, noted as qlwa in kg/m3. Besides, speci-
and physical properties of LWAC as there are few researchers using it
0
in the prediction models of f c of LWAC or NWC [1].
The variations of compressive strength and UPV with LWA parti-
cle density (qlwa ) are shown in Fig. 9. It is evident that compressive
strength reaches a peak at approximately 1500 to 1800 kg/m3 and
UPV also concave down and the peak is approximately 1200 to
1500 kg/m3.
3. Previous prediction models
Numerous prediction models with different input variables
0
have been used for formulation of the relationship between f c
and UPV. Table 1 summaries several such prediction models pro-
0
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

0
Fig. 7. a) histogram of observed frequencies; and b) variations of average f c and UPV with age.

Fig. 8. a) histogram of data distribution; and b) variation of compressive strength with specimen density, q.

Fig. 9. a) histogram of data distribution; and b) variation of compressive strength with.qlwa

6
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

Table 1
Summary of previous prediction models from literatures (Alphabetical order of first author).

Reference Type of Aggregate Model Input variables

[10] Palm oil clinker 0 3:79 UPV: km/s
f c ¼ 0:1982  UPV
[11] Waste PET LWA f 0 c ¼ 20:312  UPV  40:959 UPV: km/s
[51] Recycled high-density f 0 c ¼ 0:0171  UPV  25:478ð28dayÞf 0 c ¼ 0:0122  UPV  5:239ð90dayÞ UPV: m/s
polyethylene (HDPE)
[6] Plastic waste f 0 c ¼ 1:766  UPV þ 5:568ðPCPEÞf 0 c ¼ 2:030  UPV  6:798ðPCPVCÞf 0 c ¼ 1:892  UPV  2:359ðPCPPÞ UPV: m/s
3
[55] Unknown type f 0 c ¼ 0:0262  e1:81010 UPV UPV: m/s
[20] Rubber f 0 c ¼ 0:0120  UPV 4:8498 ð7dayÞf 0 c ¼ 0:0043  UPV 5:5703 ð28dayÞ UPV: km/s
[56] Unknown type f 0 c ¼ A  UPV þ B UPV: km/s
A and B: regression
coefficients
[61] Rubber f 0 c ¼ A  UPV B UPV: km/s
A and B: regression
coefficients
[62] Rubber f 0c ¼ 24:205  UPV 0:9471 ð7dayÞf 0 c ¼ 16:388  UPV 1:2281 ð28dayÞ UPV: km/s
[63] Oil palm shell f 0c ¼ 0:137  e1:395UPV UPV: km/s
[64] Wood chipping f 0c ¼ 0:0872  e0:0014UPV UPV: m/s
[13] Rubber f 0c ¼ 2:859  e0:0007UPV ð3dayÞf 0 c ¼ 1:9817  e0:0008UPV ð7dayÞf 0 c ¼ 1:7564  e0:0008UPV ð28dayÞ UPV: m/s
[16] Brick chips UPV: km/s
f 0 c ¼ 0:088  e1:581UPV ðDagg ¼ 12:5mmÞf 0 c ¼ 0:388  e1:186UPV ðDagg ¼ 19:0mmÞf 0 c
¼ 0:226  e1:32UPV ðDagg ¼ 25:0mmÞf 0 c ¼ 0:409  e1:136UPV ðDagg ¼ 37:5mmÞ
[25] Oil palm shell f 0 c ¼ 2:376  e0:676UPV UPV: km/s
[1] Recycled LWA f 0 c ¼ ð0:001625
x
q
Þ  e0:4UPV q: density of concrete,
kg/m3UPV: km/s
w: water to binder ratio
[19] PVC f 0 c ¼ 0:0122  UPV  21:178 UPV: m/s
[65] Oil palm shell f 0 c ¼ 0:072  e1:54UPV UPV: km/s
[14] Rubber f 0 c ¼ 0:542  UPV 2 þ 1:869  UPV þ 2:108 UPV: km/s
[7] Expanded Polystyrene f 0 c ¼ 0:12  e1:36UPV UPV: km/s
Beads
0
[5] Oil palm shell f c ¼ 0:816  UPV 2:9 UPV: km/s
[12] Pumice f 0 c ¼ 0:00674  UPV  191:58 UPV: m/s
[42] Pumice and Expanded f 0 c ¼ UPV 3:17  eUPV UPV: km/s
clay
[66] NWA and expanded clay f 0 c ¼ ð54:6
0:67 q: density of concrete,
q0:5 Þ
UPV
kg/m3UPV: km/s
[9] Palm oil clinker f 0 c ¼ 0:045  UPV 4:78 UPV: km/s
[67] Pumice f 0 c ¼ A  UPV þ B UPV: km/s
A and B: regression
coefficients
[3] Oil palm shell f 0 c ¼ 5:0658  UPV 1:4502 UPV: km/s

0
posed for the f c of LWAC with different types of LWA. It is evident
that the three common types of functions of the correlation
0 HDPE), expanded clay, oil palm shell, palm oil clinker, sintered
between f c are linear, power, and exponential. Some researchers
also consider additional variables such as w, density of concrete
(q), and sand-aggregate ratio (s), etc as they are aware of that
0 the database.
predicting f c of concrete structures solely with UPV is insufficient
when multiple independent variables are introduced.
Prediction models collected were also applied to the database
that was established in this paper. Results showed poor accuracies
with the database established. It is mainly attributed to the fact
that the models collected are derived separately based on unique
mix, type of the LWA, and materials used and this therefore limits
the applicability of the models proposed for different testing sys-
tems and emphasises the importance of re-calibrations of models
for uses in different situations.
4. Experimental database
An experimental results database from 26 different literatures
and 603 sets was built, and it involves data of mix design, types
and specifications of normal/lightweight aggregates, specimen
density, curing time, dimension of testing specimen, measure-
0
ments of UPV and f c . In this case, the types of lightweight
7
aggregates involved consist of rubber, scoria, pumice, recycled
coarse aggregates, polyethylene aggregates (e.g. PET, PP, PVC, and
fly ash, and brick chips, etc [1,3,13–15,17–22,24,4,25,26,41,50,64,
66,5–11]. Table 2 summaries the statistics of key parameters of
Strength conversion from different specimen shape and size to
100 mm cube is done with the conversion factors proposed by [68]
for different specimen shapes and sizes as shown in Table 3.
5. Prediction models
In this paper, two types of prediction model for compressive
strength of LWAC will be developed. They are regression model
and a BPNN for different accuracy requirements. The prediction
model is a regression model which is in fact a non-linear multivari-
able regression model and it is based on the least square method. It is
preferred for approximate prediction or calculation manually.
Another prediction model is a back-propagation neural network,
named as genetic algorithm optimised back-propagation neural net-
work (GA-BPNN), which is preferred for much more accurate predic-
tions. In concrete field, there are also a few researchers are working
on the combination of UPV, neural network and mechanical or phys-
ical properties of concretes and their results prove that BPNN model
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

Table 2
Statistical summary of key parameters in database.

Parameters Unit Min Max Mean Median

w – 0.30 0.89 0.47 0.41
Dagg mm 4 40 14.35 12.5
Dlwa mm 0.65 30 10.01 12.5
c – 0.53 9.66 2.70 2.42
s – 0 5.99 1.02 0.90
Rp % 0 100 72.4 100
Age Days 1 120 28.5 28
qlwa kg/m3 350 2500 1166 1290
q kg/m3 1165 2515 1954 1957
0
fc MPa 2.5 99.12 34.32 35.46
UPV km/s 1.43 5.54 3.82 4.02

Table 3
Conversion factors with sizes and shapes of the specimen for normal strength concrete & high-strength concrete [68].

Normal strength concrete High-strength concrete

Cylinder specimen size d (mm) cy cu Cylinder specimen size d (mm) cy cu
Cy(1 0 0) 50 1.05 1.34 Cy(1 0 0) 50 1.08 1.16
100 1.00 1.18 100 1.00 1.04
150 0.97 1.10 150 0.96 0.98
200 0.96 1.05 200 0.93 0.94
cy (1 5 0) 50 1.07 1.38 cy (1 5 0) 50 1.13 1.21
100 1.03 1.22 100 1.04 1.09
150 1.00 1.13 150 1.00 1.02
200 0.98 1.07 200 0.97 0.98

or ANN-based models are able to produce reasonable estimations of
these properties of concrete structures with UPV [40,69–73]. How-
ever, it should be noted that a neural network model brings not only
more accurate estimations but also much heavier computation work
and it is usually assisting with certain softwares or programs which
makes this kind of model not site-friendly.
To develop such models, the database was initially partitioned
into training set, validation set, and test set. However, with the
consideration of limited pairs of data gathered, k-fold cross-
validation was then considered for parameters tuning of BPNN
model and therefore, the database was split to training set and test
set with a ratio of 0.85–0.15. Both regression and BPNN model
were then developed based on the training set and their perfor-
mances were assessed by test set.
5.1. Regression model
5.1.1. Input parameters
As based on the aforementioned, there are nine parameters (in-
cluding age) that are principally governed both compressive
strength and UPV for LWAC and considering simplifying the com-
plexity of the regression model to be developed, apart from
neglecting the curing time with the previously discussed reasons
and another option is further separating data with specimen den-
sity and LWA density. Therefore, the partition of training set will be
like into four subsets with different specimen density and LWA
density noted as:
- NWC-NWA: normal weight concrete with normal weight
aggregates
o specimen density > 1850 kg/m3 & aggregates density
>=2000 kg/m3
- NWC-LWA: normal weight concrete with lightweight
aggregates
o specimen density <=1850 kg/m3 & aggregates density less
than 2000 kg/m3
- LWC-NWA: lightweight concrete with normal weight
aggregate
8
ospecimen density > 1850 kg/m3 & aggregates density
>=2000 kg/m3
- LWC-LWA: lightweight concrete with lightweight aggregates
o specimen density <=1850 kg/m3 & aggregates density less
than 2000 kg/m3
where the threshold of 1850 kg/m 3 for the NWC and LWC is
defined by the report of ACI Committee 213 [74]; and Lea’s Chem-
istry of Cement and Concrete [75] defines a particle density of
2000 kg/m3 as the bound of NWA and LWA.
5.1.2. Multivariable regression analysis
The scatter (shown in Fig. 10) of training set shows that the
compressive strength of LWAC varies exponentially with UPV
within particular data sets, the general trend for all data shows a
wide scatter due to the dependencies of both parameters as dis-
cussed previously and their respective influence on compressive
strength and UPV. Considering incorporating both parameters as
a modification to the regression coefficient a in Eqn.1, the pro-
posed regression model therefore can be expressed as in Eqn. (2)
f 0 c ¼ a  ebUPV ð1Þ


f 0 c ¼ b1 þ b2  w þ b3  Dagg þ b4  Dlwa þ b5  c þ b6  s þ b7  Rp
 eb8 UPV
ð2Þ
0
where f c is the predicted compressive strength of 100 mm cubic
specimens; w is the water-binder ratio; Dagg is the maximum size
of coarse aggregates in mm; Dlwa is the maximum size of light-
weight aggregates in mm; c is the volumetric ratio of coarse aggre-
gates to binder; s is the volumetric ratio of sand to aggregates; and
Rp is the replacement ratio of lightweight aggregates in %; b1 to b8
are the regression coefficients. Regression is performed with
MATLAB (‘fitnlm’), results can be viewed in Table 4.
Results indicate that for training set data, the proposed model
has an R2 of 0.71 and its F-value of 1150 with a p-value of
2.3  10-318 and these indicated that the proposed model is
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

predictions of compressive strength of this type of LWAC with

limited accuracy. It is because that, apart from the previously
discussed parameters, the compressive strength is also governed
by several other factors, such as the strength of coarse aggre-
gates (including the compressive strength of natural coarse
aggregates and LWA). However, for most of the literature,
researchers do not provide these data or related information.
The proposedregression model is therefore hampered to produce
more accurate estimations.

5.2. Genetic algorithm optimized Back-propagation neural network

5.2.1. Algorithm background

Fig. 10. Scatter of compressive strength vs. UPV with training set.
statistically significant to describe and explain the data and the
model should be retained. Results from different subgroups show
that, for each subgroup, R2 values are improved and the high p-
values are also saying that the proposed model is significantly suf-
ficient to predict the compressive strength of LWAC and should be
retained. In addition, the model is more accurate for mixes of LWC
and NMC-NWA, and for NWC-LWA the model is relatively less
accurate than the others.
Fig. 11 shows the performances of proposed models with the
test set data for different four conditions. It is evident that, for
LWC concretes with either NWA or LWA as well as NWC-
NWA, the proposed model exhibits better estimations, because
the sizes of data for each condition are smaller than that of
NWC-LWA, hence the variations of compressive strength and
UPV are less diverse than within NWC-LWA. It is also indicated
that, for NWC-LWA, the model is reasonable for approximate
5.2.1.1. Back-propagation neural network. Artificial Neural Network
(ANN), one of the deep learning techniques, is widely used in ana-
lytical studies of cementitious materials, and usually works as pre-
diction models for monitoring the behaviours or properties of fresh
or hardened concrete structures [40,46,69,76–79]. Fig. 12 is a visu-
alization of the structure of a simple ANN.
Back-propagation neural network (BPNN) is a type of ANN that
assesses the difference between predictions and labels, then back
propagates the errors to each neuron to adjust weightings and
thresholds to achieve the training goal. BPNN comprises three
types of layers, an input layer (Fig. 12), numerous hidden layers,
and an output layer. Layers are connected by numerous neurons.
The connections between neurons in different layers can be
expressed as
!
X
n


yj ¼ f wji xi þ bji ð3Þ
j¼1
where wji is the weighting between neurons i in the upper layer
and neuron j in lower layer, xi is the output of neuron i, bji is the
bias between neurons i and j, f is the activation function (transfer
function) that is used to map inputs from the previous layer to a
given range, yj is the output from neuron j. In this paper, the acti-
vation function selected for hidden layer is tangent sigmoid func-
tion (MATLAB function: ‘tansig’) as:

Table 4
Regression results with statistics.

Regression Coefficients Statistics

b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 b8 R2 F p-value
Complete data 11.15 7.24 0.054 0.11 0.51 0.14 0.0020 0.41 0.71 1150 2.3E-318
LWC-NWA 31.34 40.99 0.058 0.050 0.18 1 0.68 0.48 0.91 153 2.61E-26
LWC-LWA 16.50 0.46 0.52 0.22 1.39 3.04 0.022 0.41 0.75 259 4.28E-91
NWC-NWA 49.10 0.59 0.0095 0.0095 0.065 0.046 0.50 1.00 0.94 1050 1.06E-34
NWC-LWA 10.13 8.67 0.045 0.14 0.17 0.36 0.0061 0.42 0.73 882 7.7E-269

Fig. 11. Fitness of predictions vs. labels with test set for different conditions (a) LWC-NWA; (b) LWC-LWA; (c) NWC-NWA; (d) NWC-LWA.

9
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

5.2.1.2. Genetic algorithm optimization. Genetic Algorithm, a

stochastic optimization method inspired by biological evolution,
has been widely used as one of the optimization algorithms in deep
learning models through monitoring the biological evolution pro-
cess to select the most optimal solution (best individual) from
entire possible solutions. The core of GA is generating numerous
possible individuals through genetic operation of generating
numerous possible chromosomes via operators of selection, cross-
over, and mutation, then selecting the best of these solutions [80].

Selection: This operator chooses the chromosomes in the popu-

lation that will be allowed to reproduce. The chromosomes with
better fitness will produce more offspring than those with
poorer fitness.

Crossover: This operator mimics the process of biological
recombination of two single-chromosomes and generates the
Fig. 12. Structure of a simple ANN. new individuals.

Mutation: This operator randomly changes the allele values of a
2 contiguous section of chromosome and generates new offspring
f ðxÞ ¼ 1 ð4Þ [80].
1 þ e2x
In the training process, iteration loop will be broken when mean The optimization process involves inputs coding and decoding,
squared error (MSE) is less than the pre-defined training goal, and creating initial population, fitness calculation, genetic operation,
training stops. and configuration of parameters. After generating the first genera-
tion, the fittest individual is selected from each generation based
X
n on the fitness results, then with cooperating the genetic operations
2
MSE ¼ 1=n ðyi  ybi Þ ð5Þ (crossover and mutation) to produce the new generation until fully
i¼1 optimised. The process can be visualised in Fig. 13.
where yi and ŷi are the predictions from model and labels,
respectively.

Fig. 13. Visualization of GA optimization process.

10
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

5.2.2. GA-BPNN establishment and configuration

5.2.2.1. Structure of GA-BPNN. Since BPNN’s performance is sensi-
tive to the pre-set regression coefficients before training process,
e.g. weightings and biases as improper pre-set coefficients may
possibly mistakenly stop training with locally best solution instead
of the globally best, optimization of these pre-set coefficients is
therefore able to further converge predictions to approximate the
labels with global best coefficients from training process. GA-
BPNN is therefore structured as GA firstly optimises the weightings
and biases that are needed to be pre-set for BPNN training, then the
fittest pre-set coefficients are assigned to BPNN network to per-
form training, testing and other followed computations. The struc-
ture of GA-BPNN in a flowchart is shown in Fig. 14.

5.2.2.2. Parameters and configuration.

5.2.2.2.1. BPNN configuration. Parameters to be pre-configured are
basic training parameters and hyperparameters. Training parame-
ters such as a training function decide the basic features of the train-
ing process, and hyperparameters govern the structure of the
network. The training function was selected to be Bayesian Regular-
ization Backpropagation, which is based on Levenberg-Marquardt
backpropagation but with introducing a L2 regularization term to
prevent overfitting. With this training function, the validation pro-
cess was performed with data from the training set to tune other
hyperparameters. To achieve this, a validation set with a ratio of
0.15 of complete database is commonly used. However, due to the
limited pairs of data gathered in the database, 10-fold cross-
validation was considered to achieve hyperparameter tuning,
thereby the validation set was then combined with training.
Hyperparameters of BPNN to be pre-configured are number of
hidden layers and hidden neurons in each hidden layer. The BPNN
to be further studied with is selected to be single hidden layer with
numerous hidden neurons. As number of hidden neurons signifi-
Fig. 15. Histogram of frequencies of hidden neurons having minimum PMSE.
cantly contributes to the performance of the final model, therefore,
10-fold cross validation method is employed to assist the determi-
nation of no of hidden neurons. 10-fold cross validation is repeated
100 times and results of minimum MSE and the frequencies of cor-
responding number of neurons are recorded as shown in Fig. 15.
Results indicate that in the 100 times repeats, a model with 10 hid-
den neurons produced 14 times of minimum prediction mean
square error (PMSE) and was the peak of the variation. The number
of hidden neurons was then selected to be 10.
5.2.2.2.2. GA configuration. Before GA optimization, several key
parameters are required to be pre-decided including the total
number of nodes to be optimised by GA, maximum evolution gen-

Fig. 14. Flowchart of structure of GA-BPNN.

11
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419

Table 5 8.46 MPa) but further generalised and stabilised the performance
Performance summary of GA-BPNN and BPNN-Ref for 20 repeats with training set.
of BPNN through significantly reducing the maximum RMSE.
Statistical Parameters GA-BPNN BPNN-Ref Fig. 16 (a) shows the fitness change in the 50 generations. Either
RMSE, MPa Max. 19.28 28.03 average or best fitness (MSE) of each generation is reduced rapidly
Min. 7.51 8.46 in the first ten generations, and gradually reaches the minimum.
Mean 10.58 12.25 This demonstrates the good performance of GA optimization.
R Max. 0.985 0.982 Fig. 16 (b) shows illustrates the training results of the best
Min. 0.961 0.943
Mean 0.978 0.975
model among the 20 repeats, and its high R values indicates the
predictions are accurate.
A matrix-form of GA-BPNN can also be viewed at the following,
where the first 10  9 matrix the weightings between input layer
and hidden layers, the second 9  1 matrix is the input layer, and
eration, population size, probability of crossover, and probability of
the third 10  1 matrix is the biases between input layers and 10
mutation. These parameters were designed as the total number of
neurons in the hidden layer, the next 10  1 matrix is the weight-
nodes to be optimised was 111; the maximum generation was 50;
ings between hidden layer and output layer, the last real number is
population size was set to be 20; and the probability of crossover
the bias of output layer. To minimise the computation work of the
and mutation were designed to be 0.4 and 0.1, respectively.
model, input data needs to be mapped to 0 to 1, and similarly the
5.2.2.2.3. Input and output variables. As discussed previously, in output from the model should be mapped back with following
total, there are nine input variables which are fed into the model equation Eqn.7:
including, w/b ratio, maximum size of coarse aggregates Dagg

02 3
1:7761 0:8705 1:6115 2:3994 3:3091
B6 0:0115 0:0115 0:8696 1:6342 7
B6 7
B6 0:6189 0:5470 0:5843 2:2219 1:6926 7
B6 7
B6 0:2175 0:1339 1:7717 0:0365 7
B6 7
B6 0:0253 3:3647 3:5767 4:7633 0:1035 7
B6 7 2 3 02 31T
B6 2:7200 2:9688 1:7886 0:2371 7 2 3 0:7678 4:0817
B6 7 w
B6 0:3680 2:8918 0:4450 3:3438 1:5822 7 6 0:8823 7 B6 4:8515 7C
B6 7 6 Dagg 7 6 7 B6 7C
B6 0:2582 1:7610 1:5268 1:6990 7 6 7 6 7 B6 7C
B6 7 6 Dlwa 7 6 2:6980 7 B6 3:2103 7C
B6 0:5502 4:5001 1:7564 2:5652 1:4835 7 6 7 6 3:0381 7 B6 2:5727 7C
B6 7 6 qlwa 7 6 7 B6 7C
B6 1:4311 7 6 7 6 7 B6 7C
1:0159 2:4550 2:3010 7  6 c 7 þ 6 1:3600 7Þ  B6 2:7899 7C þ 0:4749
0
f c ¼ tansig B6
B6 0:4948 7 6 7 6 2:1178 7 B6 3:7837 7C
B6 0:7277 1:0433 1:0878 1:2158 7 6 q 7 6 7 B6 7C
B6 1:1237 0:2861 7 6 7 6 7 B6 7C
B6 1:8240 0:0366 7 6 s 7 6 0:6135 7 B6 2:6619 7C
B6 1:1973 0:4580 0:3820 3:8041 0:7040 7 6 7 6 0:3999 7 B6 4:9645 7C
B6 7 4 Rp 5 6 7 B6 7C
B6 2:0902 2:6779 1:0650 0:6352 7 4 0:0669 5 @4 3:8851 5A
B6 7 UPV
B6 1:0920 3:2333 1:1957 0:9851 1:9679 7 1:0944 2:8024
B6 7
B6 0:7835 2:1330 0:5907 0:7380 7
B6 7
B6 1:5536 0:1202 3:1777 4:4452 3:0224 7
B6 7
B6 0:5931 0:9048 0:4255 0:5055 7
B6 7
@4 0:2223 1:0774 1:7550 1:5794 2:1535 5
:2556 1:0589 0:6700 0:7472

(mm), maximum size of lightweight aggregates Dlwa (mm), Input mapping:

replacement ratio Rp, density of lightweight aggregates qlwa
 
(g/cm3), volumetric ratio of coarse aggregates to binder c, specimen Min 0:3 4 0:65 0 0:53 1165 0 0 1:43
density q (kg/m3), volumetric ratio of sand to aggregates s, as well Max 0:89 40 30 2:5 9:66 2515 5:99 100 5:54
as UPV (km/s). The target variable for prediction is the compressive
0  
strength of lightweight aggregate concrete f c (MPa). Min 2:5
Output mapping:
Max 99:12

5.2.3. Results
To assess the performance of optimization, a reference network
without GA optimization is also established and trained and tested
with the same data sets that are used for GA-BPNN, notated as
BPNN-Ref. Optimised BPNN, is notated as GA-BPNN. Each model is
trained for 20 times to obtain the mean statistics. Performance sum-
mary of GA-BPNN and BPNN-Ref with training set can be viewed in
Table 5. Training set results indicate that GA optimization does not
significantly boost the best performance that BPNN model could
achieve (minimum RMSE for GA-BPNN and BPNN-Ref: 7.51 and
12
x  xmin
y ¼ ðymax  ymin Þ  þ ymin ð6Þ
xmax  xmin
where ymax and ymin are the target range of mapping, xmin and xmax
are the maximum values of each input; x is the input. The mapping
settings for both inputs and output are also summarised as shown
above.
The performance of the GA-BPNN model was assessed with the
data from pre-split test set. Performance of model assessed with
test set data can be viewed in Fig. 17. According to statistic results,
its R of 0.958 with an RMSE of 4.51 MPa indicated that, GA-BPNN
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani
Fig. 16. Fitness plot for GA-BPNN (a); and its training results (b).
Fig. 17. Performance of GA-BPNN model assessed with test set data.
model was considered to be able to serve for prediction of com-
pressive strength of LWAC with reasonable accuracy requirement.
6. Comparisons of regression and GA-BPNN models
The best GA-BPNN model was selected to do the comparison with
regression models. Data used for comparison is the testing set of GA-
BPNN (not used in training process). Results can be viewed in Fig. 18.
Results indicate that, GA-BPNN produced the relatively more accu-
rate predictions than regression as the linear fitting line of GA-
BPNN model was closer to the equality line. However, it should also
be pointed out that, both GA-BPNN and regression model tended to
overestimate the strength for points dropped below 28 MPa and
underestimate when strength exceeded 28 MPa. This behaviour
was more pronounced for the regression model. This might be
attributed to firstly, the poorer accuracy of regression model com-
pared to machine learning algorithms; secondly, more data points
of strength>28 MPa were collected.
In addition, RMSE values obtained for GA-BPNN and regression
model are 4.51 and 7.60 MPa, respectively, and are also indicating
and proving that GA-BPNN has more accurate predictions than the
13
Construction and Building Materials 292 (2021) 123419
Fig. 18. Comparisons of predictions from GA-BPNN and regression models.
regression model as its RMSE is significantly lower than that of
models. However, on the other hand, GA-BPNN model brings not
only the most accurate estimations but also the higher complexity
level indicated by much heavier computation work (shown by the
matrix form of GA-BPNN). This means for site measurement or the
situations of computer or software free environment which
requires manual computation, GA-BPNN exhibits limitations of
operation.
7. Conclusion
This study proposes two prediction models, regression model
and GA-BPNN model for prediction of compressive strength of
LWAC with UPV and incorporating parameters of water to binder
ratio (w), maximum size of aggregates (Dagg), maximum size of
LWA (Dlwa), volumetric ratio of coarse aggregate to binder (c), vol-
umetric ratio of sand to aggregate ratio (s), and replacement ratio
(Rp). The conclusions of this study can be summarised as:
Observations from the experimental data aggregation show that
compressive strength and UPV are increased by increase in density
of LWAC. Also, compressive strength and UPV are decreased with
Y. Zhang and F. Aslani
increases in water to binder ratio, replacement ratio or overall
coarse aggregate content (in volume).
UPV readings of specimens with larger coarse aggregates are
generally higher than the specimen with smaller aggregates. When
the maximum size of coarse aggregates exceeds 15 mm, specimen
with smaller aggregates will have higher UPV than the ones incor-
porating coarser aggregates. Using denser LWA will lead an
increase in both UPV and compressive strength. However, the
increase in compressive strength will reach a peak then turn to
negative.
Regression model is considered as reasonable for approximate
predications of compressive strength of LWAC either for complete
database or within each subgroup of LWC-NWA, LWC-LWA, NWC-
NWA, or NWC-LWA. It was also confirmed by that R2 value
obtained for each condition with test set data were 0.822, 0.818,
0.988, 0.736, respectively.
GA-BPNN model was considered to be used for accurate estima-
tion of compressive strength of LWAC as its R2 and RMSE were
0.958 and 4.51, respectively. In addition, genetic algorithm opti-
mization also has significant improvement in general performance
of BPNN, although the maximum R values of BPNN are not signif-
icantly increased by GA (GA-BPNN: 0.985 and BPNN: 0.982), its
mean and maximum RMSE (GA-BPNN:10.58 and 19.28 MPa,
BPNN: 12.25 and 28.03 MPa) are improved significantly. This
demonstrates that GA optimization further stabilises the perfor-
mance of BPNN.
In addition, since the regression model is only reasonable for
approximate predictions, and to further generalise the model and
boost the accuracy of regression model, certain other parameters
are also vital and possibly being introduced into regression model
to achieve this, such as the compressive strength of coarse aggre-
gates, particle size distribution of both fine and coarse aggregates
as well as lightweight aggregates, types and amounts of pozzolanic
materials blended, curing conditions, and the porosity of light-
weight aggregates if possible. From the point of view of predictive
modelling, extending data base with more data is a key to improve
performance of the model and a better accuracy of estimation.
Moreover, there is also a possibility of developing more simpli-
fied regression model with good or better accuracy to reduce the
dimensionality of the input parameters, e.g. solely using UPV with
gene expression programming (genetic algorithm based) for pio-
neer researchers.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yifan Zhang: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization,
Writing - original draft. Farhad Aslani: Funding acquisition, Super-
vision, Project administration, Resources, Conceptualization, Data
curation, Investigation, Visualization, Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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