Environmental factor modified resilient modulus prediction of tropical fine grained laterite soils using artificial neural network, Gaussian process and support vector approaches
摘要
When the pavement layers get inundated, the rebounding reflux get affected and gradually the layer stiffens or permanently deforms under dynamic loads. To comprehend the deformation properties of the layer, it becomes essential to record the resilient response of the layer as a result of moisture interventions. The reactiveness of compacted soil mass can be valued based on the index termed Resilient Modulus (MR). These responses especially under unsaturated states are highly unpredictable and thus if a soil specific variability data of MR is available, it can ease the design process. The main objective is to predict the resilient response, MR, of laterite soils at different moisture conditions, using advanced computing tools like Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) and Support Vector machine (SVM). In order to develop dataset for computation, resilient modulus models with soil suction (Ψ) parameter and Environmental modification factor (FU) were utilized. It was observed that the soft computing techniques ANN, GPR and SVM could fairly predict the MR of laterite soils at variable moisture and stress properties with R2 of 0.98, 0.94 and 0.89 respectively, when confining pressure (kPa), deviator stress (kPa), S-Sopt (%), percent of fines and plasticity index (%) were provided as input to the system. It was observed that the neural networking tool could predict comparatively better than GPR and SVR models.