Abstract
The natural jute fiber can be the effective material to reinforce concrete strength. This study investigates the effect of jute fiber on the compressive and tensile strengths of Jute Fiber Reinforced Concrete Composites (JFRCC). A Response Surface Methodology (RSM) articulated with crow search algorithm (CSA)-based platform was developed for predicting and optimizing the variables that affect JFRCC properties. For this, cylinders and cubes of standard dimensions have been made with varying three independent factors, such as water-cement (W/C) ratio, length and volume of jute fiber. Initially, the RSM-based on Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was utilized for finding the second order polynomial models for both compressive and tensile strengths of JFRCC. Later, a platform integrated RSM with crow search algorithm (CSA) was applied to find the global optimal solution. The predicted maximum compressive and tensile strengths of 35.1 N/mm(2) and 3.5 N/mm(2) (after 28 days of curing), respectively, were found with an optimal set as fiber length of 6 mm, fiber volume of 0.2% and water-cement (W/C) ratio of 0.55. The predicted optimal conditions were validated experimentally and it was found that the experimental strengths using the optimum values were varied by around 5% from the predicted values. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.