13
ORIGINAL ARTICLE ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash Ali Nazari Gholamreza Khalaj Shadi Riahi Received: 10 July 2011 / Accepted: 27 September 2011 / Published online: 21 October 2011 Ó Springer-Verlag London Limited 2011 Abstract In the present work, compressive strength of geopolymers made from seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash has been predicted by adaptive network-based fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS). Different specimens, made from a mixture of fly ash and rice husk–bark ash in fine and coarse forms and a mixture of water glass and NaOH mixture as alkali activator, were subjected to compressive strength tests at 7 and 28 days of curing. The curing regimes were different: one set of the specimens were cured in water at room temperature until 7 and 28 days and the other sets were oven-cured for 36 h at the range of 40–90°C and then cured at room temperature until 7 and 28 days. A model based on ANFIS for predicting the compressive strength of the specimens has been presented. To build the model, training and testing using experimental results from 120 specimens were conducted. The used data as the inputs of ANFIS models are arranged in a format of six parameters that cover the percentage of fine fly ash in the ashes mixture, the percentage of coarse fly ash in the ashes mixture, the percentage of fine rice husk–bark ash in the ashes mixture, the percentage of coarse rice husk–bark ash in the ashes mixture, the temperature of curing, and the time of water curing. According to these input parameters in the ANFIS models, the compressive strength of each specimen was pre- dicted. The training and testing results in ANFIS models showed a strong potential for predicting the compressive strength of the geopolymeric specimens. Keywords Geopolymer Compressive strength Fly ash Rice husk–bark ash ANFIS FTIR Curing regime 1 Introduction Geopolymer that was developed by Davidovits contains both silica and alumina and can be used as a binder to produce geopolymer. Various alkali activators also play a key role in producing geopolymers by dissolving silica and alumina from the raw material and forming aluminosilicate structures. Geopolymer is used for a variety of applications such as sculpture, building, repairing, and restoration. Numerous research publications related to geopolymers have been released, with some reporting on chemical composition aspects or reaction processes while others present results related to mechanical properties and durability [1]. The gen- eral formula to describe the chemical composition of these mineral polymers is M n [–(SiO 2 ) z –AlO 2 ] n wH 2 O, where z is 1, 2, or 3, M is an alkali cation (such as potassium or sodium), and n is the degree of polymerization. Accordingly, in order to better describe the geopolymeric structures, a terminology has been proposed: poly(sialate) (–Si–O–Al–O–), poly(sialate- siloxo) (–Si–O–Al–O–Si–O–), and poly(sialatedisiloxo) (–Si–O–Al–O–Si–O–Si–O–) [2]. The main properties of geopolymers are quick compressive strength development, low permeability, resistance to acid attack, good resistance to freeze–thaw cycles, and tendency to drastically decrease the mobility of most heavy metal ions contained within the geo- polymeric structure [3]. Such properties make them interest- ing structural products, such as concrete replacements in various environments, and immobilization systems for heavy metal containment [4]. The compressive strength of an inorganic polymer depends on both the ratio of Si/Al and the types of the utilized raw material. Fly ash (FA) is recently used as a source material to produce geopolymer because of its suitable chemical com- position along with favorable size and shape. Fly ash is a by-product of coal-fired electric power stations. Literature A. Nazari (&) G. Khalaj S. Riahi Department of Materials Engineering, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran e-mail: [email protected] 123 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701 DOI 10.1007/s00521-011-0751-y

ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

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Page 1: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strengthof geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

Ali Nazari • Gholamreza Khalaj • Shadi Riahi

Received: 10 July 2011 / Accepted: 27 September 2011 / Published online: 21 October 2011

� Springer-Verlag London Limited 2011

Abstract In the present work, compressive strength of

geopolymers made from seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

has been predicted by adaptive network-based fuzzy inference

systems (ANFIS). Different specimens, made from a mixture

of fly ash and rice husk–bark ash in fine and coarse forms and a

mixture of water glass and NaOH mixture as alkali activator,

were subjected to compressive strength tests at 7 and 28 days

of curing. The curing regimes were different: one set of the

specimens were cured in water at room temperature until 7 and

28 days and the other sets were oven-cured for 36 h at the

range of 40–90�C and then cured at room temperature until 7

and 28 days. A model based on ANFIS for predicting the

compressive strength of the specimens has been presented. To

build the model, training and testing using experimental

results from 120 specimens were conducted. The used data as

the inputs of ANFIS models are arranged in a format of six

parameters that cover the percentage of fine fly ash in the ashes

mixture, the percentage of coarse fly ash in the ashes mixture,

the percentage of fine rice husk–bark ash in the ashes mixture,

the percentage of coarse rice husk–bark ash in the ashes

mixture, the temperature of curing, and the time of water

curing. According to these input parameters in the ANFIS

models, the compressive strength of each specimen was pre-

dicted. The training and testing results in ANFIS models

showed a strong potential for predicting the compressive

strength of the geopolymeric specimens.

Keywords Geopolymer � Compressive strength �Fly ash � Rice husk–bark ash � ANFIS � FTIR �Curing regime

1 Introduction

Geopolymer that was developed by Davidovits contains both

silica and alumina and can be used as a binder to produce

geopolymer. Various alkali activators also play a key role in

producing geopolymers by dissolving silica and alumina from

the raw material and forming aluminosilicate structures.

Geopolymer is used for a variety of applications such as

sculpture, building, repairing, and restoration. Numerous

research publications related to geopolymers have been

released, with some reporting on chemical composition

aspects or reaction processes while others present results

related to mechanical properties and durability [1]. The gen-

eral formula to describe the chemical composition of these

mineral polymers is Mn[–(SiO2)z–AlO2]n�wH2O, where z is 1,

2, or 3, M is an alkali cation (such as potassium or sodium),

and n is the degree of polymerization. Accordingly, in order to

better describe the geopolymeric structures, a terminology has

been proposed: poly(sialate) (–Si–O–Al–O–), poly(sialate-

siloxo) (–Si–O–Al–O–Si–O–), and poly(sialatedisiloxo)

(–Si–O–Al–O–Si–O–Si–O–) [2]. The main properties of

geopolymers are quick compressive strength development,

low permeability, resistance to acid attack, good resistance to

freeze–thaw cycles, and tendency to drastically decrease the

mobility of most heavy metal ions contained within the geo-

polymeric structure [3]. Such properties make them interest-

ing structural products, such as concrete replacements in

various environments, and immobilization systems for heavy

metal containment [4].

The compressive strength of an inorganic polymer depends

on both the ratio of Si/Al and the types of the utilized raw

material. Fly ash (FA) is recently used as a source material to

produce geopolymer because of its suitable chemical com-

position along with favorable size and shape. Fly ash is a

by-product of coal-fired electric power stations. Literature

A. Nazari (&) � G. Khalaj � S. Riahi

Department of Materials Engineering, Science and Research

branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

e-mail: [email protected]

123

Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

DOI 10.1007/s00521-011-0751-y

Page 2: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

survey specifies that fly ash is primarily composed of SiO2,

Al2O3, and Fe2O3. Since the quality of fly ash depends on the

type and the quality of coal along with the performance of the

power plant, difficulties sometimes remain to control its

chemical composition. In order to achieve a suitable chemical

composition to produce geopolymers, the preferred method is

to blend fly ash with another high silica source [1].

Rice husk–bark ash (RHBA) is a solid waste generated by

biomass power plants using rice husk and eucalyptus bark as

fuel. The power plant company providing RHBA for this

research reported that about 450 tons/day of RHBA are

produced and discarded. The major chemical constituent of

RHBA is SiO2 (about 75%) [5, 6]. Therefore, blending FA

and RHBA can adjust the ratio of Si/Al as required.

Several works have addressed utilizing of computer-

aided prediction of engineering properties including those

done by the authors [7–12]. Adaptive network-based fuzzy

inference systems (ANFIS) is the famous hybrid neuro-

fuzzy network for modeling the complex systems [13].

ANFIS incorporates the human-like reasoning style of

fuzzy systems through the use of fuzzy sets and a linguistic

model consisting of a set of IF–THEN fuzzy rules. The

main strength of ANFIS models is that they are universal

approximators [13] with the ability to solicit interpretable

IF–THEN rules. Nowadays, the artificial intelligence-based

techniques like ANFIS [14] have been successfully applied

in the engineering applications. However, there is a lack of

investigations on metallurgical aspects of materials.

To the authors’ knowledge, there are no works on utilizing

a mixture of FA and RHBA with seeded distribution of par-

ticles to produce geopolymers. In addition, since the concept

of geopolymers is completely new and there are few works on

their properties, application of computer programs like neural

networks to predict their properties is rarely reported. The aim

of this study is to investigate the compressive strength of

geopolymers produced form seeded FA and RHBA mixture

experimentally and presenting suitable model based on AN-

FIS to predict their compressive strength. Both FA and RHBA

with two different particle size distributions have been mixed

with different amounts to produce four classes of geopoly-

mers. Compressive strength of the produced specimens has

been investigated after specific times of curing. Totally, 120

data of compressive strength tests in different conditions were

collected, trained, and tested by means of ANFIS. The

obtained results have been compared by experimental meth-

ods to evaluate the software power for predicting the com-

pressive strength of the geopolymer specimens.

2 Experimental procedure

The cementitious materials used in this work were FA and

RHBA. Their chemical composition has been illustrated in

Table 1. In addition, Fig. 1 shows SEM micrograph of the

cementitious materials, respectively. The as-received ashes

were sieved and the particles passing the finesses of 150

and 33 lm were grinded using ball mill for 30 and

180 min, respectively, which yielded two different samples

for each of FA and RHBA. The average particle sizes

obtained for FA were 75 lm (coarser FA named cF in this

study) and 3 lm (finer FA named fF in this study) with the

BET specific surface of 31.3 and 38.9 m2/g, respectively.

The average particle sizes obtained for RHBA were 90 lm

(coarser RHBA named cR in this study) and 7 lm (finer

RHBA named fR in this study) with the BET specific

surface of 26 and 33.1 m2/g, respectively. The four

Table 1 Chemical composition of FA, RHBA, and WG (wt%)

Material SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO SO3 Na2O Loss on

ignition

FA 35.21 23.23 12.36 20.01 2.36 0.36 0.24

RHBA 81.36 0.4 0.12 3.23 0.85 – 3.55

WG 34.21 – – – – 13.11 –

Fig. 1 SEM micrograph of a FA and b RHBA used in this study

690 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

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produced samples were used in the experiment. Figure 2

shows the particle size distribution of the four produced

samples.

Sodium silicate solution or water glass (WG) and

sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were used as the solution part of

the mixture. WG was used without following modification,

but the sodium hydroxide was diluted to different con-

centrations before using. The chemical composition of the

utilized WG is also given in Table 1.

Totally 4 series of geopolymer specimens each con-

taining 2 different mixtures of FA and RHBA as illustrated

in Table 2 were prepared for compressive strength tests.

The mixed alkali activator of sodium silicate solution and

sodium hydroxide solution was used. Sodium hydroxide

was diluted by tap water to have concentrations of 4, 8, and

12 M. The solution was left under ambient conditions until

the excess heat had completely dissipated to avoid accel-

erating the setting of the geopolymeric specimens. The

sodium silicate solution without preparation was mixed

with the sodium hydroxide solution. The ratio of the

sodium silicate solution to sodium hydroxide solution was

2.5 by weight for all mixtures because this ratio demon-

strated the best properties for fly ash–based geopolymer

[15, 16]. For all samples, the mass ratio of alkali activator

to FA–RHA mixture was 0.4. Pastes were mixed by

shaking for 5–10 min to give complete homogenization.

The mixtures were cast in ø30 mm 9 60 mm polypropyl-

ene cylinders. The mixing was done in an air-conditioned

room at approximately 25�C. The molds were half-filled,

vibrated for 45 s, filled to the top, again vibrated for 45 s,

and sealed with the lid. The mixtures were then precured

for 24 h at room temperature (this precuring time has been

found to be beneficial to strength development [17]). Pre-

curing time before application of heat induces significant

dissolution of silica and alumina from fly ash and forma-

tion of a continuous matrix phase, increasing, therefore, the

homogeneity of the geopolymeric materials [17, 18]. After

the precuring process, the samples and molds were placed

in a water bath to prevent moisture loss and the carbonation

of the surface. One batch of these samples was placed in an

air-conditioned room at 25�C. The other batch was put in

the oven at the elevated temperatures of 50–90�C for 36 h.

To determine the most effective alkali concentration on

compressive strength, one set of the specimens cured at

80�C for 36 h were subjected to compressive strength tests.

Afterward, the other sets of samples were tested at 7 and

28 days of curing (for the specimens cured at elevated

temperature, the time of oven-curing was also considered).

The compressive strength results of the produced spec-

imens were measured on the cylindrical samples. The tests

were carried out triplicately and average strength values

were obtained.

The microstructural characteristic of geopolymeric

specimens, which was made at the optimum condition and

had a high compressive strength, was analyzed using

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The

powder samples were mixed with KBr at a concentration of

0.2–1.0 wt% to make the KBr disks. Then, the disks were

evaluated using a Perkin Elmer FTIR microscope.

3 Experimental results and discussion

3.1 Compressive strength

To determine the effect of NaOH concentration on com-

pressive strength of the specimens, one series of the

specimens (fF-fR series) were randomly selected, produced

by different concentrations of NaOH (4, 8 and 12 M) and

subjected to compressive strength tests after 36 h oven-

curing. Figure 3 shows the effects of NaOH concentration

Fig. 2 Particle size distribution pattern of the different ashes used in

this study

Table 2 Mixture proportioning of the utilized FA and RHBA to

produce geopolymeric specimens

Sample

designation

Weight

percent

of fine

FA (fF

wt%)

Weight

percent

of coarse

FA (cF

wt%)

Weight

percent

of fine

RHBA

(fR wt%)

Weight

percent of

coarse

RHBA

(cR wt%)

SiO2/

Al2O3

ratio

fF-fR-1 60 0 40 0 3.81

fF-fR-2 70 0 30 0 2.99

fF-fR-3 80 0 20 0 2.38

fF-cR-1 60 0 0 40 3.81

fF-cR-2 70 0 0 30 2.99

fF-cR-3 80 0 0 20 2.38

cF-fR-1 0 60 40 0 3.81

cF-fR-2 0 70 30 0 2.99

cF-fR-3 0 80 20 0 2.38

cF-cR-1 0 60 0 40 3.81

cF-cR-2 0 70 0 30 2.99

cF-cR-3 0 80 0 20 2.38

Ratio of alkali activator (WG ? NaOH) to FA–RHBA mixture is

0.4

Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701 691

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on compressive strength of the fF-fR series specimens

cured for 36 h at 80�C. As Fig. 3 shows, the compressive

strength by the geopolymers synthesized using the most

concentrated alkaline solution (12 M NaOH) was the

highest for mixtures. Zuhua et al. [19] reported that the use

of high molarities NaOH (such as 12 M) could accelerate

dissolution and hydrolysis but obstruct polycondensation.

Thus, 12 M NaOH can be considered as the suitable

solution for preparing geopolymer specimens. Therefore,

as discussed in the experimental section, the specimens

were produced by 12 M NaOH solution and were cured at

the mentioned time and temperatures.

The compressive strength of the produced specimens

has been illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 for 7 and 28 days of

curing. Figures 4 and 5 show that the best strength has been

achieved for fF-fR2 specimen cured at 80�C for 36 h in

both 7 and 28 days curing regimes. As Figs. 4 and 5 show,

the optimum curing condition for all the mixtures is at

80�C. Curing temperature has a significant effect on the

compressive strength development because it affects

specimens’ setting and hardening. Synthesized products are

known to be very sensitive to experimental conditions [20].

However, compressive strength begins to decrease after

curing for a certain period of time at higher temperature.

Prolonged curing at higher temperatures can break down

the granular structure of geopolymer mixture. This results

in dehydration and excessive shrinkage due to contraction

of the gel, which does not transform into a more semi-

crystalline form [21].

On the whole, samples made with the fine RHBA and

FA particles (fF-fR series) showed considerably higher

strength than the other series. This may be due to pro-

duction of more compacted specimens. Fine particles are

capable of filling the vacancies and producing more den-

sified specimens, which make them stronger to the applied

loads. This has been confirmed in some works done on

concrete specimens [22], but to the authors’ knowledge,

there are not any reports that confirm this matter in

geopolymers.

3.2 FTIR results

The FTIR spectra of the inorganic polymers are shown

in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6, the IR bands are identified as follows:

Si–O stretching is located in the range 1,000–1,200 cm-1,

Si–O bending is found at 800 cm-1 and between 890 and

975 cm-1. The band at approximately 1,100 cm-1 is

assigned to the Si–O stretching of Q4 units and the band atFig. 3 The effect of NaOH concentration on compressive strength of

fF-fR series specimens cured at 80�C for 36 h

Fig. 4 Seven days compressive

strength of a fF-fR, b fF-cR,

c cF-fR, and cF-cR series

specimens

692 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

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1,050 cm-1 is assigned to Q3 units with a non-bridging

oxygen (Si–O–NBO) per SiO4 tetrahedron [23].

From Fig. 6, it is seen that an increase in the fine fly ash

particles shifts the position of the maximum absorbance of

Si–O bands toward lower wave numbers, indicating the

transformation of Q4 units to Q3 units.

4 Architecture of ANFIS

The architecture of an ANFIS model with two input vari-

ables is shown in Fig. 7. Suppose that the rule base of

ANFIS contains two fuzzy IF–THEN rules of Takagi and

Sugeno’s type as follows:

Rule 1: IF x is A1 and y is B1, THEN f1 = p1x ?

q1y ? r1.

Rule 2: IF x is A2 and y is B2, THEN f2 = p2x ?

q2y ? r2.

In Fig. 7 fuzzy reasoning is illustrated and also the

corresponding equivalent ANFIS architecture is shown in

Fig. 8. The functions of each layer are described as follows

[13, 14, 24, 25]:

Layer 1—Every node i in this layer is a square node

with a node function:

O1i ¼ lAi

ðxÞ ð1Þ

where x is the input to node i, and Ai is the linguistic label

(fuzzy sets: small, large, …) associated with this node

function.

Layer 2—Every node in this layer is a circle node

labeled P, which multiplies the incoming signals and sends

the product out. For instance,

Wi ¼ lAiyð Þ � lBi

yð Þ; i ¼ 1; 2 ð2Þ

Each node output represents the firing weight of a rule.

Layer 3—Every node in this layer is a circle node

labeled N. The ith node calculates the ratio of the ith rule’s

firing weight to the sum of all rule’s firing weights:

Wi ¼ Wi= W1=W2ð Þ; i ¼ 1; 2 ð3Þ

Layer 4—Every node in this layer is a square node with

a node function:

O4i ¼ �wi pixþ qiyþ r1ð Þ ð4Þ

where �wi is the output of layer 3, and {pi, qi, ri} is the

parameter set.

Fig. 5 Twenty-eight days

compressive strength of a fF-fR,

b fF-cR, c cF-fR, and cF-cR

series specimens

Fig. 6 FTIR results of the selected specimens: a fF-fR-2, b fF-cR-2,

c cF-fR-2 and d cF-cR specimens

Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701 693

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Layer 5—The signal node in this layer is a circle node

labeled R that computes the overall output as the summa-

tion of all incoming signals, that is,

O5i ¼

X

i

�wifi ¼X

i

wifi=X

i

wi: ð5Þ

The basic learning rule of ANFIS is the back-propagation

gradient descent, which calculates error signals recursively

from the output layer backward to the input nodes. This

learning rule is exactly the same as the back-propagation

learning rule used in the common feed-forward neural

networks [26, 27]. Recently, ANFIS adopted a rapid

learning method named as hybrid-learning method that

utilizes the gradient descent and the least-squares method

to find a feasible set of antecedent and consequent

parameters [26, 27]. Thus, in this paper, the later method is

used for constructing the proposed models.

4.1 ANFIS model structure and parameters

The structure of proposed ANFIS networks consisted of six

input variables including the percentage of fine fly ash in

the ashes mixture (fF), the percentage of coarse fly ash in

the ashes mixture (cF), the percentage of fine rice husk–

bark ash in the ashes mixture (fR), the percentage of coarse

rice husk–bark ash in the ashes mixture (cR), the temper-

ature of curing (T), and the time of water curing (t). The

value for output layer was compressive strength (fS). The

input space is decomposed by three fuzzy labels. In this

paper, for comparison purposes, two types of membership

functions (MFs) including the triangular (ANFIS-I) and

Gaussian (ANFIS-II) were utilized to construct the sug-

gested models. The ANFIS models were trained by 96

input–target pairs and tested by 26 data from testing pairs.

Moreover, up to 1,000 epochs were specified for training

process to assure the gaining of the minimum error

tolerance.

In this study, the Matlab ANFIS toolbox is used for AN-

FIS applications. To overcome optimization difficulty, a

program has been developed in Matlab, which handles the

trial-and-error process automatically [28–31]. The program

tries various functions and when the highest RMSE (root

mean squared error) of the testing set, as the training of the

testing set, is achieved, it was reported [28–31].

Fig. 7 The reasoning scheme of ANFIS [14]

Fig. 8 Schematic of ANFIS

architecture [8]

694 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

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The IF–THEN rules in this study were achieved as

follows. Suppose that the rule base of ANFIS contains

two fuzzy IF–THEN rules of Takagi and Sugeno’s

type:

Rule 1: IF fF is A1, cF is B1, fR is C1, cR is D1, T is E1

and t is F1 THEN f1 = p1fF ? q1cF ? r1fR ?

s1cR ? t1T ? u1t ? v1.

Rule 2: IF fF is A2, cF is B2, fR is C2, cR is D2, T is E2

and t is F2 THEN f2 = p2fF ? q2cF ? r2fR ?

s2cR ? t2T ? u2t ? v2.

The corresponding equivalent ANFIS architecture is

shown in Fig. 9. The functions of each layer are described

as follows:

Layer 1—Every node i in this layer is a square node

with a node function:

O1i ¼ lAi

ðfFÞ i ¼ 1; 2 ð6Þ

O1i ¼ lBi

ðcFÞ i ¼ 1; 2 ð7Þ

O1i ¼ lCi

ðfRÞ i ¼ 1; 2 ð8Þ

O1i ¼ lDi

ðcRÞ i ¼ 1; 2 ð9Þ

O1i ¼ lEi

ðTÞ i ¼ 1; 2 ð10Þ

O1i ¼ lFi

ðtÞ i ¼ 1; 2 ð11Þ

where fF, cF, fR, cR, T and t are inputs to node i, and Ai, Bi,

Ci, Di, Ei and Fi are the linguistic label (fuzzy sets: small,

large, …) associated with this node function.

Layer 2—Every node in this layer is a circle node

labeled G, which multiplies the incoming signals and sends

the product out. For instance,

Wi ¼ lAifFð Þ � lBi

cFð Þ � lCiðfRÞ

� lDiðcRÞ � lEi

ðTÞ � lFiðtÞ; i ¼ 1; 2 ð12Þ

Each node output represents the firing weight of a rule.

Layer 3—Every node in this layer is a circle node

labeled N. The ith node calculates the ratio of the ith rule’s

firing weight to the sum of all rule’s firing weights:

Wi ¼ Wi= W1=W2ð Þ; i ¼ 1; 2 ð13Þ

Layer 4—Every node in this layer is a square node with

a node function:

O4i ¼ �wi PifFþ qicFþ rifRþ sicRþ tiT þ uit þ við Þ

ð14Þ

where �wi is the output of layer 3, and {pi, qi, ri, si, ti, ui, vi,

zi} is the parameter set.

Layer 5—The signal node in this layer is a circle node

labeled R that computes the overall output as the summa-

tion of all incoming signals, that is,

N

Nw_

w_

w_

w_

out

Fig. 9 Schematic of ANFIS

architecture utilized in this work

Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701 695

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O5i ¼

X

i

�wifi ¼X

i

wifi=X

i

wi ð15Þ

5 Predicted results and discussion

In this study, the error arose during the training and testing

in ANFIS-I and ANFIS-II models can be expressed as

absolute fraction of variance (R2), which are calculated by

Eq. (16) [32]:

R2 ¼ 1�P

i ti � oið Þ2P

i oið Þ2

!ð16Þ

where t is the target value and o is the output.

All of the results obtained from experimental studies

and predicted by using the training and testing results of

ANFIS-I and ANFIS-II models are given in Fig. 10a, b,

respectively. The linear least square fit line, its equation,

and the R2 values were shown in these figures for the

training and testing data. Also, input values and experi-

mental results with training and testing results obtained

from ANFIS-I to ANFIS-II models were given in Table 3.

As it is visible in Fig. 10, the values obtained from the

training and testing in ANFIS-I and ANFIS-II models are

very close to the experimental results. The result of

testing phase in Fig. 10 shows that the ANFIS-I and

ANFIS-II models are capable of generalizing between

input and output variables with reasonably good

predictions.

The performance of the ANFIS-I and ANFIS-II models

is shown in Fig. 10. The best value of R2 is 96.32% for

training set in the ANFIS-II model. The minimum values

of R2 are 94.34% for testing set in the ANFIS-I model.

All of R2 values show that the proposed ANFIS-I and

ANFIS-II models are suitable and can predict the com-

pressive strength values very close to the experimental

values.

6 Conclusions

From the experimental procedure, the following results

were obtained:

1. The compressive strength of the specimens depends on

the particle size distribution pattern of the ashes, time

of oven-curing, and the time of room condition curing.

The finer ashes particle size results in the denser and

hence the stronger specimen. On the other hand, oven-

curing of the specimens at 80�C was found to be the

optimum temperature of curing in geopolymeric

specimens.

2. In all mixtures, the specimens with the SiO2/Al2O3

ratio equal to 2.99 had the highest strength. On the

other hand, the highest strength was achieved equals

58.9 MPa for the mixture of fine fly ash to fine rice

husk–bark ash of 70:30.

3. ANFIS can be an alternative approach for the evalu-

ation of the effect of seeded mixture of FA and RHBA

on compressive strength values of geopolymer

specimens.

Fig. 10 The correlation of the measured and predicted compressive

strength values of geopolymers in a training and b testing phase for

ANFIS models

696 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

123

Page 9: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

Ta

ble

3D

ata

sets

for

com

par

iso

no

fex

per

imen

tal

resu

lts

wit

hre

sult

sp

red

icte

dfr

om

the

AN

FIS

mo

del

s

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

fin

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h

inth

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hes

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ture

(fF

)

Th

ep

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ash

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(cF

)

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hu

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ce

hu

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hes

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(cR

)

Th

ete

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ure

of

curi

ng

(T)

Th

eti

me

of

wat

er

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ng

(t)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

ob

tain

edfr

om

exp

erim

ents

(MP

a)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-I

mo

del

(MP

a)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-II

mo

del

(MP

a)

60

04

00

25

72

7.1

26

.82

7.6

70

03

00

25

73

73

6.1

35

.9

80

02

00

25

73

3.4

32

.53

5.8

60

00

40

25

72

4.7

24

.12

5.4

70

00

30

25

73

3.7

29

.43

3.2

80

00

20

25

73

0.5

30

.43

0.2

06

04

00

25

71

9.7

22

.91

9.8

07

03

00

25

72

6.9

27

.42

6.4

08

02

00

25

72

4.3

24

.42

4.4

06

00

40

25

71

4.8

15

.31

5.1

07

00

30

25

72

0.2

19

.82

0.9

08

00

20

25

71

8.2

18

.51

9.1

60

04

00

40

73

0.4

29

.73

0.8

70

03

00

40

73

9.2

38

.73

7.3

80

02

00

40

73

5.4

34

.53

4.6

60

00

40

40

72

7.7

26

.92

9

70

00

30

40

73

5.8

30

.23

6.7

80

00

20

40

73

2.3

30

.33

0.1

06

04

00

40

72

2.1

23

.22

1.4

07

03

00

40

72

8.5

28

.22

6.4

08

02

00

40

72

5.8

25

.22

6

06

00

40

40

71

6.5

17

16

.9

07

00

30

40

72

1.4

19

.52

2.1

08

00

20

40

71

9.3

19

.31

9.1

60

04

00

60

73

1.9

32

.13

4.9

70

03

00

60

74

1.7

41

.33

9.6

80

02

00

60

73

7.2

37

36

.4

60

00

40

60

72

9.1

31

.33

4.8

70

00

30

60

73

83

4.4

41

.8

80

00

20

60

73

3.9

32

.93

6.1

06

04

00

60

72

3.2

24

.92

4.4

07

03

00

60

73

0.3

30

.93

0.7

08

02

00

60

72

72

7.8

29

.5

Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701 697

123

Page 10: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

Ta

ble

3co

nti

nu

ed

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

fin

efl

yas

h

inth

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mix

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(fF

)

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ep

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nta

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of

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sefl

y

ash

inth

e

ash

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ixtu

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(cF

)

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ep

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eri

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bar

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h

inth

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(fR

)

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ce

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bar

kas

h

inth

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hes

mix

ture

(cR

)

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ete

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ng

(T)

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eti

me

of

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(t)

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mp

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stre

ng

thv

alu

es

ob

tain

edfr

om

exp

erim

ents

(MP

a)

Co

mp

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stre

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thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-I

mo

del

(MP

a)

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mp

ress

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thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

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FIS

-II

mo

del

(MP

a)

06

00

40

60

71

7.4

19

.11

9.1

07

00

30

60

72

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21

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3.1

08

00

20

60

72

0.2

20

.41

9.9

60

04

00

80

73

4.8

32

.83

5.3

70

03

00

80

74

4.2

42

.74

1.2

80

02

00

80

73

9.6

38

.33

7.1

60

00

40

80

73

1.8

31

.93

1.9

70

00

30

80

74

0.3

35

.24

0.4

80

00

20

80

73

6.1

33

.33

8.3

06

04

00

80

72

5.3

26

.42

5.5

07

03

00

80

73

2.1

32

.33

2.1

08

02

00

80

72

8.8

27

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9

06

00

40

80

71

91

9.5

21

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07

00

30

80

72

4.1

22

23

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08

00

20

80

72

1.5

20

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1.7

60

04

00

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.33

3

70

03

00

90

74

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42

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0.1

80

02

00

90

73

7.7

37

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7.6

60

00

40

90

72

9.6

32

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9.9

70

00

30

90

73

83

5.1

38

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80

00

20

90

73

4.4

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.63

5.8

06

04

00

90

72

3.6

25

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5

07

03

00

90

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02

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7.7

20

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07

00

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03

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60

00

40

25

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27

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70

00

30

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8.9

35

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80

00

20

25

28

40

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4.8

40

.3

698 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

123

Page 11: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

Ta

ble

3co

nti

nu

ed

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

fin

efl

yas

h

inth

eas

hes

mix

ture

(fF

)

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

coar

sefl

y

ash

inth

e

ash

esm

ixtu

re

(cF

)

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ep

erce

nta

ge

of

fin

eri

ce

hu

sk–

bar

kas

h

inth

eas

hes

mix

ture

(fR

)

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

coar

seri

ce

hu

sk–

bar

kas

h

inth

eas

hes

mix

ture

(cR

)

Th

ete

mp

erat

ure

of

curi

ng

(T)

Th

eti

me

of

wat

er

curi

ng

(t)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

ob

tain

edfr

om

exp

erim

ents

(MP

a)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-I

mo

del

(MP

a)

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mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-II

mo

del

(MP

a)

06

04

00

25

28

27

28

28

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07

03

00

25

28

36

.93

6.2

36

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08

02

00

25

28

33

.33

3.4

32

.5

06

00

40

25

28

20

.82

3.7

20

.2

07

00

30

25

28

28

.42

6.5

26

.8

08

00

20

25

28

25

.62

4.6

20

.4

60

04

00

40

28

40

.53

9.5

40

.8

70

03

00

40

28

52

.35

2.7

51

.5

80

02

00

40

28

47

.24

5.7

45

.4

60

00

40

40

28

36

.53

5.7

35

.7

70

00

30

40

28

47

.14

0.7

40

.7

80

00

20

40

28

42

.53

7.7

41

.9

06

04

00

40

28

30

.33

0.3

29

.8

07

03

00

40

28

39

.13

8.4

38

.7

08

02

00

40

28

35

.33

53

4.8

06

00

40

40

28

23

.32

3.8

22

.6

07

00

30

40

28

30

.12

8.5

28

.8

08

00

20

40

28

27

.22

5.6

26

60

04

00

60

28

42

.54

2.6

45

.7

70

03

00

60

28

55

.65

5.5

57

.8

80

02

00

60

28

49

.64

8.2

50

.1

60

00

40

60

28

38

.33

9.4

43

.5

70

00

30

60

28

50

45

49

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80

00

20

60

28

44

.64

4.3

46

06

04

00

60

28

31

.83

2.6

31

.9

07

03

00

60

28

41

.54

2.2

41

08

02

00

60

28

37

39

.63

6.6

06

00

40

60

28

24

.52

5.1

24

.9

07

00

30

60

28

32

30

.93

0.8

08

00

20

60

28

28

.52

9.1

27

.7

60

04

00

80

28

46

.44

4.2

46

70

03

00

80

28

58

.95

5.8

57

.7

80

02

00

80

28

52

.85

0.9

51

.6

Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701 699

123

Page 12: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

Ta

ble

3co

nti

nu

ed

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

fin

efl

yas

h

inth

eas

hes

mix

ture

(fF

)

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

coar

sefl

y

ash

inth

e

ash

esm

ixtu

re

(cF

)

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

fin

eri

ce

hu

sk–

bar

kas

h

inth

eas

hes

mix

ture

(fR

)

Th

ep

erce

nta

ge

of

coar

seri

ce

hu

sk–

bar

kas

h

inth

eas

hes

mix

ture

(cR

)

Th

ete

mp

erat

ure

of

curi

ng

(T)

Th

eti

me

of

wat

er

curi

ng

(t)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

ob

tain

edfr

om

exp

erim

ents

(MP

a)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-I

mo

del

(MP

a)

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ng

thv

alu

es

pre

dic

ted

by

AN

FIS

-II

mo

del

(MP

a)

60

00

40

80

28

41

.84

1.7

41

.4

70

00

30

80

28

53

46

.35

1.9

80

00

20

80

28

47

.54

3.9

47

.2

06

04

00

80

28

34

.73

4.4

34

.6

07

03

00

80

28

44

43

.54

3.6

08

02

00

80

28

39

.44

0.5

38

.7

06

00

40

80

28

26

.72

6.2

25

.6

07

00

30

80

28

33

.93

1.6

32

.8

08

00

20

80

28

30

.32

8.6

29

.5

60

04

00

90

28

43

.24

2.7

42

.8

70

03

00

90

28

55

.65

4.6

54

80

02

00

90

28

50

.25

0.3

49

60

00

40

90

28

38

.94

1.9

38

.7

70

00

30

90

28

50

45

.74

9.6

80

00

20

90

28

45

.24

1.3

45

06

04

00

90

28

32

.33

3.3

32

.4

07

03

00

90

28

41

.54

1.9

41

.1

08

02

00

90

28

37

.53

8.8

36

.9

06

00

40

90

28

24

.92

5.8

24

.1

07

00

30

90

28

32

31

.23

1.5

08

00

20

90

28

28

.92

7.9

29

.2

700 Neural Comput & Applic (2013) 22:689–701

123

Page 13: ANFIS-based prediction of the compressive strength of geopolymers with seeded fly ash and rice husk–bark ash

4. Comparison between ANFIS in terms of R2 showed

that ANFIS models are capable of predicting suitable

results for compressive strength values of geopolymer

specimens.

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