Estimation of concrete shear strength using gene expression programming algorithm

Concrete shear resistance is one of the most important parameters in concrete structures design. Suitable understanding of concrete behavior against shear forces has always been a problem for researchers. Many different methods have been developed for measuring and predicting shear strength. One of the most common method, is to find a relationship between compressive and shear strength. In this study, an attempt was made to provide a practical relationship between compressive and shear strength using an experimental design with compressive strength in the range of 20-30 MPa which resulted in 50 compressive and shear concrete specimens. Gene expression Programming (GEP) method has been used to estimate shear resistance and five relationships have been provided. In order to select the best relationship, in addition to considering error measurement parameters such as correlation coefficient,, Willmotts index, and etc ., the criterion of simplicity and easy use of the relation is also considered.