Optimization of biocementation responses by artificial neural network and random forest in comparison to response surface methodology

In this article, the optimization of the specific urease activity (SUA) and the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) using microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) was compared to optimization using three algorithms based on machine learning: random forest regressor, artificial neural networks (ANNs), and multivariate linear regression. This study applied the techniques in two existing response surface method (RSM) experiments involving MICP technique. Random forest-based models and artificial neural network-based models were submitted through the optimization of hyperparameters via cross-validation technique and grid search, to select the best-optimized model. For this study, the random forest-based algorithm is aimed at having the best performance of 0.9381 and 0.9463 in comparison to the original r(2) of 0.9021 and 0.8530, respectively. This study is aimed at exploring the capability of using machine learning-based models in small datasets for the purpose of optimization of experimental variables in MICP technique and the meaningfulness of the models by their specificities in the small experimental datasets applied to experimental designs. This study is aimed at exploring the capability of using machine learning-based models in small datasets for experimental variable optimization in MICP technique. The use of these techniques can create prerogatives to scale and mitigate costs in future experiments associated to the field.