Expert System for Industrial Residuals Application Assessment

Abstract

As a part of a cooperative effort to provide assistance in the assessment of potential highway construction application areas for industrial residual materials, a knowledge-based system designed to assist in the screening of industrial residuals for possible highway construction applications has been developed by the Institute for Recyclable Materials at Louisiana State University. The system utilizes physical, chemical, mineralogical, and environmental data on waste materials—the relevant findings obtained from governmental agencies such as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials—as well as the expertise of scholars with substantial working and research experience in the recycling of industrial residuals. The system's final output, which not only is displayed on the monitor but also can be saved to a computer file or sent to a printer, consists of a list depicting up to seven out of a group of 13 potential highway construction application areas for the residual being analyzed. The developed software executes on a microcomputer, utilizing a commercial object-oriented expert system shell.