Correlation between mechanical properties and ultrasonic pulse velocity in steel fiber reinforced concretes including a neural network analysis

Abstract

The ultrasonic wave propagation velocity (UPV) technique enables the evaluation of mechanical properties of concrete, including fiber reinforced concrete (FRC). Therefore, the objective of this study is to verify potential correlations between the mechanical properties of FRC and UPV, based on experimental data selected after a systematic literature review. Additionally, relationships between UPV and compressive strength were assessed using models proposed by researchers. An artificial neural network (ANN) technique was applied to analyze which properties, when associated with UPV, assist in estimating the compressive strength of FRC. It was observed that the literature-proposed models for estimating compressive strength using UPV proved to be ineffective. The ANN model resulted in a determination coefficient of 0.973, an accuracy of 3.18 MPa, utilizing UPV, cement consumption, and the water-to-cement ratio as input data, with three neurons in the hidden layer and one output data (compressive strength).