Fuzzy pattern recognition model for diagnosing cracks in RC structures

This paper examines a diagnostic model based on the concept of cause-and-effect diagramming and fuzzy pattern recognition, which contributes a new methodology for diagnosing engineering problems. Three examples are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the model in diagnosing crack formations in reinforced concrete structures. Two levels of parameters representing the causes of cracks in concrete are used to form fuzzy sets. The parameters represent the materials used, fabrication of structural elements, loading, and environmental conditions. An expert system that links the parameters by means of fuzzy set theory is constructed using finite universal sets consisting of membership functions and fuzzy vectors. Pattern recognition is used to identify a fuzzy vector that represents the most likely causes of the crack.