Machine learning in concrete technology: A review of current researches, trends, and applications

Machine learning techniques have been used in different fields of concrete technology to characterize the materials based on image processing techniques, develop the concrete mix design based on historical data, and predict the behavior of fresh concrete, hardening, and hardened concrete properties based on laboratory data. The methods have been extended further to evaluate the durability and predict or detect the cracks in the service life of concrete, It has even been applied to predict erosion and chemical attaches. This article offers a review of current applications and trends of machine learning techniques and applications in concrete technology. The findings showed that machine learning techniques can predict the output based on historical data and are deemed to be acceptable to evaluate, model, and predict the concrete properties from its fresh state, to its hardening and hardened state to service life. The findings suggested more applications of machine learning can be extended by utilizing the historical data acquitted from scientific laboratory experiments and the data acquitted from the industry to provide a comprehensive platform to predict and evaluate concrete properties. It was found modeling with machine learning saves time and cost in obtaining concrete properties while offering acceptable accuracy

Identification of Causes and Effects of Poor Communication in Construction Industry: A Theoretical Review

Construction industry is characterized in nature as complex, fragmented, dynamic and involves many parties therefore effective communication is essential to overcome these challenges. Many researchers found that the industry faces major challenge to ensure effective and successful communication throughout the lifecycle of the project which therefore resulted to project failure. Poor communication in construction industry had been addressed in previous research studies; however, this paper presents and examines the identification of causes and effects which lead to poor communication. Further investigations on previous literature were conducted to extract the causes and effects which contributed to poor communication in construction industry. Similarity technique was applied to avoid duplications in the identified causes and effect of poor communication. Using the frequency technique, from the 33 causes of poor communication it was found that the most dominant cause is lack of effective communication. Whereas, out of 21 effects from poor communication, it was found that highly repeated effect is time overrun. These findings will serve a good platform for further investigation on the relevancy of causes and effects to the local construction practitioners

Simulation and Development of Instrumental Setup to Be Used for Cement Grouting of Sand Soil

Most of Arab countries areas are occupied with deserts that is covered with sandy soil. Thus, it is necessary to make use of this huge volume of sand to be as construction materials. It is proven that, sand is initially uneven and unstable. It requires pre-modifications of its primer properties in order to be used as construction materials. One of the common techniques is injecting the sand with binders. Many grouting techniques has been implanted to modify or rehabilitate the structure of soil but for sandy soil the methods has not yet been introduced Therefore, this study aimed at developing simulation and instrumental setup to be used for cement grouting. The simulation has been custom made and utilized to form grouted samples for further investigation. The method of injecting sand is by applying pressure to produce force flow in order to be injected into the sand. After the formation of injected sand samples, an experimental investigation was carried out to determine the basic properties. Shear strength of the sand was recorded before and after grouting. It was found that, the shear strength has increased after injecting the sand with cement and the setup has produced accurate grouted samples with even distribution of the cement mix. The results of the various investigations conclusively proved that grouting can be used as an effective way to improve the strength characteristics significantly and can also contribute to the stabilization of sand

Causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects

Effective communication is an indispensable element to the successful completion of construction projects. However, maintaining a smooth and effective communication process is a challenge to construction practitioners. Many studies have been carried out on the communication in construction. Nevertheless, there is still lack of studies focusing exclusively on the identification of limited causes and effects of poor communication in the construction projects. Hence, this study is not only intended to entirely identify and assess the causes and effects of poor communication but also to establish the relationships between them. The study was conducted using mix method approaches where the qualitative approach was carried out using exploratory interviews with ten selected construction experts to gain insights on the issues of poor communication in Malaysian construction. The information gathered from interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis. In the quantitative approach, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 262 respondents to assess the cause and effect factors. The questionnaire was designed based on the causes and effects identified from the literature and the exploratory interview which simultaneously resulted in identifying 43 causes and 23 effects. The collected data were analysed using statistical univariate and multivariate approaches. The univariate analysis adopted average index score to rank the significance level of the factors and found five most significant causal factors which are lack of communication system and platform, improper communication channel, lack of appropriate communication medium, poor project information management, and lack of formal execution of communication. While the five most severe effects of poor communication are information overlapping, time overrun, cost overrun, dispute, and high stress in the workplace. The collected data were further used to develop a structural relationship model for the causes and effects using Smart-PLS. The model was assessed and validated for both measurement and structural components. The model addressed the relationships between causes and effects which then verified by construction experts. The structural equation model with the outcome from exploratory interviews were combined to produce a framework of poor communication causes and effects. The framework also introduced the mitigation measures of poor communication. The findings of this research are helpful to accommodate the need for construction practitioners and stakeholders to understand the most significant causes, most severe effects, and offered mitigation measures of poor communication

Towards modern sustainable construction materials: a bibliographic analysis of engineered geopolymer composites

Engineered cementitious composites (ECC) exhibits impressive tensile strength but has significant environmental drawbacks due to high cement consumption. Recently, engineered geopolymer composites (EGC) have gained attention as a potential ECC alternative. This comprehensive study reviews the latest EGC advancements, encompassing mix design, design theory, engineering properties, environmental benefits, and durability. It emphasizes how factors like activators, precursors, fibers, additives, and aggregates impact EGC properties, making it a cost-effective material for fire, chemical resistance, and dynamic loads. To address limitations in traditional literature reviews, innovative research methods, including scientometric analysis, were employed to provide a cohesive analysis. This review aims to facilitate knowledge dissemination and collaboration by summarizing EGC advances and highlighting remaining challenges in developing practical applications. It is revealed from the review that various manufacturing methods enhance geopolymers, especially in geopolymer concrete, where replacing 50% of ordinary Portland cement with fly ash boosts strength. Geopolymer concrete excels in pre-cast applications, offering durability and resistance to harsh conditions as an eco-friendly alternative to Portland cement. It suits highway pavement, walls, marine coatings, and tiles, reducing carbon emissions and promoting efficient waste management. EGCs find broad use in construction due to their strong, durable, and eco-friendly qualities, supporting sustainable infrastructure development

Investigating the effect of poor communication in terms of cost and time overruns in the construction industry

Cost and time overruns are major issues faced by the construction industry worldwide. Studies have shown that various factors cause these overruns. One of the critical factors that cause these overruns is poor communication.This study aims to study and measure the severity of poor communication in causing cost and time overruns in construction projects. The study adopted two consecutive approaches to study the effect of poor communication in causingcost and time overruns. The first approach was to conduct an extensive literature review to extract causative factors from diverse construction industries that consider poor communication as a causative factor,then to determineits severity percentage,among other factors for each study. From the analysis, it can be concluded that developed countries that apply information communication technology and advanced communication systems have lowerseverity percentages compared to other countries. The second approach was to conduct a qualitative study by interviewing construction experts and to examine their commentsand criticisms ofthe results obtained from the literature. Experts were asked to highlight their views on the severity of poor communication in the construction industry. The outcome of these interviews was thematically analysed. The findings show that poor communication has a significanteffect on cost and time overruns in construction projects

An empirical investigation of automation technology as material waste mitigation measure at Johor construction sites

Automation technology in the construction industry is the use of advanced tools, devices, and processes that reduce manual labor and enhance efficiency in various construction activities. Automation technology can minimize waste, optimize resource utilization, and reduce the environmental impact of construction processes. This study aims to examine the relationship between automation technology adoptions (ATAs) utilizing reduce, reuse, and recycle (3R), building information modeling (BIM), industrialized building systems (IBSs), green building index (GBI), and Internet of Things (IoT) practices toward construction site performance (CSP) to measure their influences on material waste mitigation measures at Johor construction sites. To achieve these goals, five hypotheses were developed to explore the association between ATA and CSP. Data were gathered utilizing an online survey. The participants were contractors and expert practitioners in the Johor construction industry, including architects, project managers, and academicians/researchers. A total of 257 valid responses were used to investigate the assumptions. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) procedure was used. The findings revealed that ATA utilizing 3R, BIM, IBS, GBI, and IoT as material mitigation measures positively enhances CSP

Influence of supply chain management on the sustainable construction industry in Algeria

The construction industry, a pivotal business sector facilitating physical infrastructure and equipment provision, holds a significant indirect influence on diverse industries. This study investigates the role of supply chain management in enhancing sustainable construction practices within the Algerian construction industry. The research delves into the relationship between traditional supply chain management and sustainable construction, employing a quantitative approach. Data collection involved a survey comprising 61 items, utilizing a five-point Likert scale, gathered through an online survey method targeting managers, supervisors, executives, and suppliers in the Algerian construction industry. With 237 participants from construction companies in Algeria, the study utilized Smart PLS for data analysis, confirming a positive relationship between traditional supply chain management and sustainable construction through partial least squares (PLS) path analysis. The findings provide valuable insights for future stakeholders, guiding employers, designers, manufacturers, contractors, and suppliers to enhance supply chain management practices for sustainable construction in Algeria. Consequently, this study offers significant results with practical and theoretical implications, contributing to the integration of sustainable supply chain management in Algerian construction. In summary, the research addresses the relationship challenges between traditional supply chain management and sustainable construction practices in Algeria

Efficient numerical simulations on the forest barrier for seismic wave attenuation: engineering safe constructions

This paper aims to elucidate the clear visibility of attenuating seismic waves (SWs) with forest trees as natural metamaterials known as forest metamaterials (FMs) arranged in a periodic pattern around the protected area. In analyzing the changeability of the FM models, five distinct cases of “metawall” configurations were considered. Numerical simulations were conducted to study the characteristics of bandgaps (BGs) and vibration modes for each model. The finite element method (FEM) was used to illustrate the generation of BGs in low frequency ranges. The commercial finite element code COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4a was adopted to carry out the numerical analysis, utilizing the sound cone method and the strain energy method. Wide BGs were generated for the Bragg scattering BGs and local resonance BGs owing to the gradual variations in tree height and the addition of a vertical load in the form of mass to simulate the tree foliage. The results were promising and confirmed the applicability of FEM based on the parametric design language ANSYS 17.2 software to apply the boundary conditions of the proposed models at frequencies below 100 Hz. The effects of the mechanical properties of the six layers of soil and the geometric parameters of FMs were studied intensively. Unit cell layouts and an engineered configuration for arranging FMs based on periodic theory to achieve significant results in controlling ground vibrations, which are valuable for protecting a large number of structures or an entire city, are recommended. Prior to construction, protecting a region and exerting control over FM characteristics are advantageous. The results exhibited the effect of the ‘trees’ upper portion (e.g., leaves, crown, and lateral bulky branches) and the gradual change in tree height on the width and position of BGs, which refers to the attenuation mechanism. Low frequency ranges of less than 100 Hz were particularly well suited for attenuating SWs with FMs. However, an engineering method for a safe city construction should be proposed on the basis of the arrangement of urban trees to allow for the shielding of SWs in specific frequency ranges

Time series subsidence evaluation using NSBAS InSAR: a case study of twin megacities (Rawalpindi and Islamabad) in Pakistan

Ground deformation associated with natural and anthropogenic activities can be damaging for infrastructure and can cause enormous economic loss, particularly in developing countries which lack measuring instruments. Remote sensing techniques like interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) can thus play an important role in investigating deformation and mitigating geohazards. Rawalpindi and Islamabad are twin cities in Pakistan with a population of approximately 5.4 million, along with important government and private entities of national and international interest. In this study, we evaluate rapid paced subsidence in this area using a modified small baseline subset technique with Sentinel-1A imagery acquired between 2015 and 2022. Our results show that approximately 50 mm/year subsidence occurs in the older city of Rawalpindi, the most populated zone. We observed that subsidence in the area is controlled by the buried splays of the Main Boundary Thrust, one of the most destructive active faults in the recent past. We suggest that such rapid subsidence is most probably due to aggressive subsurface water extraction. It has been found that, despite provision of alternate water supplies by the district government, a very alarming number of tube wells are being operated in the area to extract ground water. Over 2017–2021, field data showed that near-surface aquifers up to 50–60 m deep are exhausted, and most of the tube wells are currently extracting water from depths of approximately 150–160 m. The dropping water level is proportional to the increasing number of tube wells. Lying downstream of tributaries originating from the Margalla and Murree hills, this area has a good monsoon season, and its topography supports recharge of the aquifers. However, rapid subsidence indicates a deficit between water extraction and recharge, partly due to the limitations inherent in shale and the low porosity near the surface lithology exposed in the area. Other factors amplifying the impacts are fast urbanization, uncontrolled population growth, and non-cultivation of precipitation in the area