M.Z. Naser

M.Z. Naser
Clemson University | CU · Department of Civil Engineering/AI Research Institute for Science & Engineering

Ph.D., P.E.

About

249
Publications
108,527
Reads
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5,245
Citations
Introduction
M. Z. Naser is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering/AI Research Institute for Science & Engineering. My research interests cover the areas of Causal and XAI and machine learning, Structural fire engineering, and understanding the overall Behavior of structures in extreme conditions. He is currently serving as a committee member in ACI committees (133, 216 and 447) as well as PCI fire committee and ASCE Fire Protection Committee.  www.mznaser.com
Additional affiliations
January 2019 - present
Clemson University
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)
September 2016 - present
Michigan State University
Position
  • PostDoc Position
August 2011 - August 2016
Michigan State University
Position
  • Research Assistant
Education
August 2011 - August 2016
Michigan State University
Field of study
  • Structural fire engineering

Publications

Publications (249)
Article
Full-text available
Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are often incorporated as internal (primary) reinforcement in new concrete constructions or as external (secondary) reinforcement in retrofitting and strengthening of existing concrete structures. Under fire conditions, the response of FRP-incorporated concrete structures are altered due to the presence of FRPs; thu...
Preprint
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The widespread acceptance of empirically derived codal provisions and equations in civil engineering stands in stark contrast to the skepticism facing machine learning (ML) models, despite their shared statistical foundations. This paper examines this philosophical tension through the lens of structural engineering and explores how integrating ML c...
Article
Full-text available
This paper introduces a new addition to the SPINEX (Similarity-based Predictions with Explainable Neighbors Exploration) family, tailored specifically for time series and forecasting analysis. This new algorithm leverages the concept of similarity and higher-order temporal interactions across multiple time scales to enhance predictive accuracy and...
Article
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This paper presents a data‐driven machine learning (ML)‐based approach for predicting the fire resistance of fiber‐reinforced polymer (FRP)‐strengthened reinforced concrete beams. To this end, a comprehensive database of fire tests on FRP‐strengthened concrete beams reported in literature was compiled. The database comprised of varying geometric an...
Preprint
Full-text available
Steel-concrete composite structures (SCCSs) combine the high compressive strength of concrete and tensile strength of steel to achieve optimal structural performance. However, the design of SCCSs is more complex than traditional reinforced concrete (RC) or steel structures due to the steel-concrete composite effects. In recent years, machine learni...
Preprint
Full-text available
This article introduces a new symbolic regression algorithm based on the SPINEX (Similarity-based Predictions with Explainable Neighbors Exploration) family. This new algorithm (SPINEX_SymbolicRegression) adopts a similarity-based approach to identifying high-merit expressions that satisfy accuracy- and structural similarity metrics. We conducted e...
Article
This research investigates the post-heating performance of steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFR-SCC) beams using experimental tests at both the material and elemental levels, as well as analytical methodologies. The study includes a series of forty-eight cylindrical specimens of SCC and SFR-SCC materials tested at elevated temperatu...
Article
Cold-formed steel (CFS) sections have emerged as pivotal components in construction for sustaining small-scale loads, characterized by their distinctive feature of fabrication without the application of heat. The comprehension of CFS section responses under fire conditions or elevated temperatures stands as imperative in ensuring structural safety....
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) have become increasingly popular as both primary and secondary reinforcement materials in concrete structures due to their significant advantages over traditional steel reinforcement. However, the fire resistance of concrete structures reinforced with Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP) remains a significant concern, exa...
Article
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Societal Impact Statement Pulse crops, including dry pea, lentil, and chickpea, are rich sources of protein, low digestible carbohydrates, and micronutrients. With the increasing demand for plant‐based protein with gluten‐free and allergen‐free foods, pulse crops have become of global importance for meeting the nutritional demand of growing populat...
Preprint
Full-text available
This paper introduces a new addition to the SPINEX (Similarity-based Predictions with Explainable Neighbors Exploration) family, tailored specifically for time series and forecasting analysis. This new algorithm leverages the concept of similarity and higher-order temporal interactions across multiple time scales to enhance predictive accuracy and...
Preprint
Full-text available
This article introduces an expansion within SPINEX (Similarity-based Predictions with Explainable Neighbors Exploration) suite, now extended to single, multiple, and many objective optimization problems. The newly developed SPINEX-Optimization algorithm incorporates a nuanced approach to optimization in low and high dimensions by accounting for sim...
Preprint
Full-text available
This paper presents a novel clustering algorithm from the SPINEX (Similarity-based Predictions with Explainable Neighbors Exploration) algorithmic family. The newly proposed clustering variant leverages the concept of similarity and higher-order interactions across multiple subspaces to group data into clusters. To showcase the merit of SPINEX, a t...
Article
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Over the past few weeks, chatbots have become increasingly popular, and these are likely to revolutionize our lives. While the most common three chatbots, namely, OpenAI ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing Chatbot, and Google Bard, remain in their early release days, these chatbots present exciting opportunities to various users, including engineers. This shor...
Preprint
Full-text available
This paper presents a novel anomaly and outlier detection algorithm from the SPINEX (Similarity-based Predictions with Explainable Neighbors Exploration) family. This algorithm leverages the concept of similarity and higher-order interactions across multiple subspaces to identify outliers. A comprehensive set of experiments was conducted to evaluat...
Article
Steel-concrete composite beams with trapezoidal corrugated webs (SCBCW) are prone to rapid failure at high temperatures due to local instability of the bottom flange. The failure mechanism of SCBCW, which is an integral part of the holistic structure and subject to axial and rotational restraints from adjacent members at elevated temperatures, diff...
Preprint
Full-text available
In the rapidly evolving optimization and metaheuristics domains, the efficacy of algorithms is crucially determined by the benchmark (test) functions. While several functions have been developed and derived over the past decades, little information is available on the mathematical and visual description, range of suitability, and applications of ma...
Article
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The study assesses the mechanical efficiency, long-lasting characteristics, microstructure, and sustainability of sustainable concrete (SC) samples through several optimization methods, emphasizing the significance of the 3Rs (recycle, reuse, reduce) approach in the construction sector. The study uses advanced techniques like the Taguchi method, gr...
Preprint
Full-text available
This paper presents the Firefighter Optimization (FFO) algorithm as a new hybrid metaheuristic for optimization problems. This algorithm stems inspiration from the collaborative strategies often deployed by firefighters in firefighting activities. To evaluate the performance of FFO, extensive experiments were conducted, wherein the FFO was examined...
Article
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This communication presents a short review of chatbot technology and preliminary findings from comparing two recent chatbots, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, in the context of fire engineering by evaluating their responses in handling fire safety-related queries. A diverse range of fire engineering questions and scenarios were created and exami...
Article
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This paper introduces a machine learning approach to address the challenge of limited data resulting from costly and time-consuming fire experiments by enlarging small fire test data sets and predicting the fire resistance of reinforced concrete columns. Our approach begins by creating deep learning models, namely generative adversarial networks an...
Article
Full-text available
People with intellectual disability are vulnerable to building fires. Yet, they continue to be one of the most underrepresented groups in evacuation research. To bridge this gap, this study presents one of the very few analyses of building evacuation for people with intellectual disability. The purpose of this study is to collect data and determine...
Article
Full-text available
Ember accumulation on and around homes can lead to spot fires and home ignition. Post wildland fire assessments suggest that this mechanism is one of the leading causes of home destruction in wildland urban interface (WUI) fires. However, the process of ember deposition and accumulation on and around houses remains poorly understood. Herein, we dev...
Article
Purpose This study examines the effect of temperature-dependent material models for normal-strength (NSC) and high-strength concrete (HSC) on the thermal analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) walls. Design/methodology/approach The study performs an one-at-a-time (OAT) sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of variables defining the constitutive...
Article
Full-text available
Causal diagrams are logic and graphical tools that depict assumptions about presumed causal relations. Such diagrams have proven effective in tackling a variety of problems in social sciences and epidemiology research yet remain foreign to civil engineers. Unlike the traditional means of examining relationships via multivariable regression, causal...
Article
Full-text available
Causality, the science of cause and effect, has made it possible to create a new family of models. Such models are often referred to as causal models. Unlike those of mathematical, numerical, empirical, or machine learning (ML) nature, causal models hope to tie the cause(s) to the effect(s) pertaining to a phenomenon (i.e., data generating process)...
Article
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Using an extensive database, a sensitivity analysis across fifteen machine learning (ML) classifiers was conducted to evaluate the impact of various data manipulation techniques, evaluation metrics, and explainability tools. The results of this sensitivity analysis reveal that the examined models can achieve an accuracy ranging from 72-93% in predi...
Article
Full-text available
In order to engineer new materials, structures, systems, and processes that address persistent challenges, engineers seek to tie causes to effects and understand the effects of causes. Such a pursuit requires a causal investigation to uncover the underlying structure of the data generating process (DGP) governing phenomena. A causal approach derive...
Article
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The traditional approach to formulating building codes is often slow, labor-intensive, and may struggle to keep pace with the rapid evolution of technology and domain findings. Overcoming such challenges necessitates a methodology that streamlines the modernization of codal provisions. This paper proposes a machine learning (ML) approach to append...
Article
Full-text available
The field of machine learning (ML) has witnessed significant advancements in recent years. However, many existing algorithms lack interpretability and struggle with high-dimensional and imbalanced data. This paper proposes SPINEX, a novel similarity-based interpretable neighbor exploration algorithm designed to address these limitations. This algor...
Article
Full-text available
This short paper compiles the main concepts behind some philosophical views, definitions, and examples of causality. This collection spans the realms of the four commonly adopted approaches to causality: Hume’s regularity, counterfactual, manipulation, and mechanisms. This short review is motivated by presenting simplified views and definitions and...
Article
Full-text available
Machine learning (ML) has emerged as an efficient and feasible technique for tackling engineering problems. Despite the numerous advantages, the implementation of ML for evaluating the fire resistance of structural members is relatively scarce, primarily due to the lack of a reliable database with a substantial number of data points. To address thi...
Article
Full-text available
Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) have a proven strength enhancement capability when installed into Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams. The brittle failure of traditional FRP strengthening systems has attracted researchers to develop novel materials with improved strength and ductility properties. One such material is that known as polyethylene terephtha...
Chapter
Full-text available
Interpretable Machine Learning for the Analysis, Design, Assessment, and Informed Decision Making for Civil Infrastructure highlights the growing trend of fostering machine learning to realize contemporary, smart, and safe infrastructure. This volume delves into the latest advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence, providing read...
Article
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The porosity of concrete affects the durability of reinforced concrete structures, wherein high levels of porosity are linked to a shorter service life. Recent works have noted that high porosity levels naturally exist in the aftermath of a fire exposure – especially when concrete is classified as high strength concrete (HSC). To shed more light in...
Article
Full-text available
The engineering community has recently witnessed the emergence of chatbot technology with the release of OpenAI ChatGPT-4 and Google Bard. These chatbots have been reported to perform well and even pass various standardized tests, including medical and law exams, and this forum paper explores whether these chatbots can also pass the Fundamentals of...
Article
This paper reports on an evaluation of two models for calculating the shear strength of prestressed ul¬tra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) beams. Cal¬culations from these models, referred to as the eCPCI and FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) models, were compared to a database of experimental test results compiled from the literature. Identify...
Article
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This paper presents a causal analysis aimed at identifying and estimating causal effects with regard to bridge failures under extreme events. Observational data on about 299 bridge incidents were used to conduct this causal investigation and examine bridges' performance. As causal investigations can also deliver counterfactual assessments of parall...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose This research paper aims to investigate reinforced concrete (RC) walls' behaviour under fire and identify the thermal and mechanical factors that affect their performance. Design/methodology/approach A three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model is developed to predict the response of RC walls under fire and is validated through exper...
Article
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7 Concrete-known for its inert properties-plays a pivotal role in nuclear and radioactive 8 waste storage, providing a robust barrier against radiation. Blended concrete made up of 9 composite materials, namely, barite or magnetite, was recently employed as radiation 10 shielding concrete (RSC). This survey provides a detailed study of different RS...
Article
Full-text available
What can we learn from over 1000 tests on fire-induced spalling of concrete? A statistical investigation of critical factors and unexplored research space." Construction and Building Materials. Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive statistical investigation of the largest database on fire-induced spalling of concrete collected to date. In to...
Article
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Fiber-reinforced geopolymer concrete has been attracting attention and interest worldwide due to its sustainable properties. However, few studies have reported the pull-out behaviour of fiber-reinforced geopolymer concrete (GPC) at elevated temperatures. In order to bridge this knowledge gap, a series of detailed investigations aimed to investigate...
Article
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9 This paper sheds light on civil facilities that home the underrepresented and overlooked population 10 with mental illnesses. More specifically, this paper examines the primary architectural engineering 11 features of psychiatric hospitals from the lens of fire hazards. Psychiatric hospitals rose in 12 popularity in the 19 th century for individu...
Article
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Assessing the ability of reinforced concrete (RC) columns to withstand the effects of fire is a multifaceted and intricate problem due to the various factors that influence their fire response. As such, engineers may find it challenging to precisely predict such fire resistance. While some codal provisions exist and fire testing/advanced modeling c...
Chapter
Full-text available
Fire resistance analysis is a complex procedure. In this pursuit, engineers design experiments. However, fire tests are expensive and complex and require specialized equipment that is not accessible to many engineers. This further constrains the ability to test and advance fire research. In order to overcome the above challenges, this paper adopts...
Chapter
Full-text available
Due to its inert nature, concrete has good fire resistance properties. As such, concrete has often been favored for construction – especially where fire hazard is expected. However, this does not mean that reinforced concrete cannot catch fire. It can still be affected by heat and, if exposed to high temperatures, can eventually break down. Therefo...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose The extreme nature of fire makes structural fire engineering unique in that the load actions dictating design are intense and neither geographically nor seasonally bound. Simply, fire can break out anywhere, at any time and for any number of reasons. Despite the apparent need, the fire design of structures still relies on expensive fire tes...
Chapter
Full-text available
Planetary Goals and Challenges for Human Exploration of Mars, there is consensus that the landing site should have the necessary grade and resources to support a habitat construction for scientific research, in situ resource production and other general activities which could not be supported in the Mars Descent/Ascent Vehicle. Identifying the appr...
Book
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The theme of this textbook revolves around how machine learning (ML) can help civil and environmental engineers transform their domain. This textbook hopes to deliver the knowledge and information necessary to educate engineering students and practitioners on the principles of ML and how to integrate these into our field. This textbook is about nav...
Article
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Advances on the construction front continue to rise as the next industrial revolution (Construction 4.0) nears. One promising front revolves around additively fabricated or simply 3D printed concrete. The growing number of ongoing parallel research programs has now made it possible to collect a large amount of data on such concrete as, up to this p...
Article
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Flooding in urban streams can occur suddenly and cause major environmental and infrastructure destruction. Due to the high amounts of impervious surfaces in urban watersheds, runoff from precipitation events can cause a rapid increase in stream water levels, leading to flooding. With increasing urbanization, it is critical to understand how urban s...
Article
Waste foundry sand (WFS) is known as the main waste material of foundry industries, and its disposal cost and environmental threats have become one of the major challenges in many countries. To promote the reuse of WFS, it can be utilized as a partial substitute for fine aggregates in concrete technology, which reduces disposal costs, adverse envir...
Article
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This research examines the residual mechanical properties of normal and recycled aggregate concrete when subjected to elevated temperatures. The concrete specimens containing recycled aggregate (0%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were exposed to different temperatures (25, 200, 400, and 600°C) in a muffle furnace at a heating rate of 10°C/min. The variations...
Preprint
Full-text available
Causal diagrams are logic and graphical tools that depict assumptions about presumed causal relations. Such diagrams have proven effective in tackling a variety of problems in social sciences and epidemiology research yet remain foreign to civil engineers. Unlike the traditional means of examining relationships via multivariable regression, causal...
Article
Full-text available
Water quality monitoring for urban watersheds is critical to identify the negative urbanization impacts. This study sought to identify a successful predictive machine learning model with minimal parameters from easy-to-deploy, low-cost sensors to create a monitoring system for the urban stream network, Hunnicutt Creek, in Clemson, SC, USA. A multip...
Preprint
Full-text available
The field of machine learning (ML) has witnessed significant advancements in recent years. However, many existing algorithms lack interpretability and struggle with high-dimensional and imbalanced data. This paper proposes SPINEX, a novel similarity-based interpretable neighbor exploration algorithm designed to address these limitations. This algor...
Article
Full-text available
This paper presents a novel framework for the uncertainty quantification of inverse problems often encountered in suspended nonstructural systems. This framework adopts machine learning-and model-driven stochastic Gaussian process model calibration to quantify the uncertainty via a new blackbox variational inference that accounts for geometric comp...
Article
Full-text available
Much of our experiments are designed to uncover the cause(s) and effect(s) behind a phenomenon (i.e., data generating mechanism) we happen to be interested in. Uncovering such relationships allows us to identify the true workings of a phenomenon and, most importantly, to realize and articulate a model to explore the phenomenon on hand and/or allow...
Article
Full-text available
The expensive nature and unique facilities required for fire testing make it difficult to conduct comprehensive experimental campaigns. As such, engineers can often afford to test a small number of specimens. This complicates attaining a proper inference, especially when addressing questions in the form of what would have been the fire response of...
Article
Full-text available
This paper presents an analysis of the numerical investigation of RC beams, strengthened with CFRP and tested in flexure, using the ANSYS © numerical analysis code. In the first part of this paper, finite-element models of RC beams (control and CFRP-strengthened), subjected to four-point bending, are developed based on experimental tests as reporte...
Preprint
Full-text available
The engineering community has recently witnessed the emergence of chatbot technology with the release of OpenAI ChatGPT-4 and Google Bard. While these chatbots have been reported to perform well and even pass various standardized tests, including medical and law exams, this forum paper explores whether these chatbots can also pass the Fundamentals...
Article
Full-text available
Damage assessment applied to reinforced concrete elements is one of the main activities of infrastructure maintenance tasks. Among these elements, the problem of corrosion in reinforced concrete is particularly critical and requires careful consideration. Annually, governments invest a large amount of economic resources in this activity. However, m...
Article
Full-text available
One of the key challenges in fully embracing machine learning (ML) in civil and environmental engineering revolves around the need for coding (or programming) experience and for acquiring ML-related infrastructure. This barrier can be overcome through the availability of various platforms that provide automated and coding-free ML services, as well...
Article
Full-text available
Experiments remain the gold standard to establish an understanding of fire‐related phenomena. A primary goal in designing tests is to uncover the data generating process (i.e., the how and why the observations we see come to be); or simply what causes such observations. Uncovering such a process not only advances our knowledge but also provides us...