Predicting the rock fragmentation in surface mines using optimized radial basis function and cascaded forward neural network models

The prediction and achievement of a proper rock fragmentation size is the main challenge of blasting operations in surface mines. This is because an optimum size distribution can optimize the overall mine/plant economics. To this end, this study attempts to develop four improved artificial intelligence models to predict rock fragmentation through cascaded forward neural network (CFNN) and radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) models. In this regards, the CFNN was trained by the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm (LMA) and Conjugate gradient backpropagation (CGP). Further, the RBFNN was optimized by the Dragonfly Algorithm (DA) and teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO). For developing the models, the database required was collected from the Midouk copper mine, Iran. After modeling, the statistical functions were computed to check the accuracy of the models, and the root mean square errors (RMSEs) of CFNN-LMA, CFNN-CGP, RBFNN-DA, and RBFNN-TLBO were obtained as 1.0656, 1.9698, 2.2235, and 1.6216, respectively. Accordingly, CFNN-LMA, with the lowest RMSE, was determined as the model with the best prediction results among the four examined in this study.