Deep neural networks for automated damage classification in image-based visual data of reinforced concrete structures

Significant strides in deep learning for image recognition have expanded the potential of visual data in assessing damage to reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Our study proposes an automated technique, merging convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and fully convolutional networks (FCNs), to detect, classify, and segment building damage. These deep networks extract RC damage-related features from high-resolution smartphone images (3264 × 2448 pixels), categorized into two groups: damage (exposed reinforcement and spalled concrete) and undamaged area. With a labeled dataset of 2000 images, fine-tuning of network architecture and hyperparameters ensures effective training and testing. Remarkably, we achieve 98.75 % accuracy in damage classification and 95.98 % in segmentation, without overfitting. Both CNNs and FCNs play crucial roles in extracting features, showcasing the adaptability of deep learning. Our promising results validate the potential of these techniques for inspectors, providing an effective means to assess the severity of identified damage in image-based evaluations.