Research Papers - Department of Civil Engineering

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    PublicationOpen Access
    Predicting adhesion strength of micropatterned surfaces using gradient boosting models and explainable artificial intelligence visualizations
    (Elsevier, 2023-06-27) Ekanayake, I.U; Palitha, S; Gamage, S; Meddage, D.P.P.; Wijesooriya, K; Mohotti, D
    Fibrillar dry adhesives are widely used due to their effectiveness in air and vacuum conditions. However, their performance depends on various factors. Previous studies have proposed analytical methods to predict adhesion strength on micro-patterned surfaces. However, the method lacks interpretation on which parameters are critical. This research utilizes gradient-boosting machine learning (ML) algorithms to accurately predict adhesion strength. Additionally, explainable machine learning (XML) methods are employed to interpret the underlying reasoning behind the predictions. The analysis demonstrates that gradient boosting models achieve a high correlation coefficient (R > 0.95) in accurately predicting pull-off force on micro-patterned surfaces. The use of XML methods provides insights into the importance of features, their interactions, and their contributions to specific predictions. This novel, explainable, and data-driven approach holds potential for real-time applications, aiding in the identification of critical features that govern the performance of fibrillar adhesives. Furthermore, it improves end-users’ confidence by offering human-comprehensible explanations and facilitates understanding among non-technical audiences
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Explainable Machine Learning (XML) to predict external wind pressure of a low-rise building in urban-like settings
    (2022-07) Meddage, D. P. P; Ekanayake, I; Weerasuriya, A; Lewangamage, C. S; Ramanayaka, C. D. E; Miyanawala, T
    This study used explainable machine learning (XML), a new branch of Machine Learning (ML), to elucidate how ML models make predictions. Three tree-based regression models, Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), and Extreme Gradient Boost (XGB), were used to predict the normalized mean (Cp,mean), fluctuating (Cp,rms), minimum (Cp,min), and maximum (Cp,max) external wind pressure coefficients of a low-rise building with fixed dimensions in urban-like settings for several wind incidence angles. Two types of XML were used — first, an intrinsic explainable method, which relies on the DT structure to explain the inner workings of the model, and second, SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), a post-hoc explanation technique used particularly for the structurally complex XGB. The intrinsic explainable method proved incapable of explaining the deep tree structure of the DT, but SHAP provided valuable insights by revealing various degrees of positive and negative contributions of certain geometric parameters, the wind incidence angle, and the density of buildings that surround a low-rise building. SHAP also illustrated the relationships between the above factors and wind pressure, and its explanations were in line with what is generally accepted in wind engineering, thus confirming the causality of the ML model’s predictions.