NEURAL NETWORKS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING .2. SYSTEMS AND APPLICATION

The first paper of this two-paper series developed an understanding of how artificial neural networks work and explained the primary issues involved in their use. This second paper demonstrates the versatility of neural networks as a problem-solving tool, and shows how they can be applied to different problems in civil engineering. Initially, the basic characteristics of neural networks and the variety of systems available are identified. The significance of these characteristics in terms of solving different classes of problems is considered. A range of different types of civil engineering problems is examined (in particular, vector mapping, dynamic-systems modeling, problems in which objectives vary with time, and optimization problems) and approaches to their solutions using different neural network paradigms are demonstrated.