*4.1. Animals and Grouping*

Male C57/B6 mice weighing approximately 25 g were used in this study. The mice were sacrificed at 0, 6, 16, 24, and 48 h after hepatectomy. All animal use protocols were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of National Taiwan University College of Medicine and College (IACUC Approval No: 20140146).


**1. Introduction**

Despite the significant technological advances in motor vehicle sensing technologies (e.g., lane departure detection and collision mitigation sensing systems), road crashes have remained a pressing global health issue. The World Health Organization estimated that road injuries are the 8th leading cause of death worldwide, resulting in 1.4 million deaths annually [1]. Perhaps more importantly, the incidence of such crashes and their severity are on the rise. By 2030, traffic-related deaths are predicted to become the 7th leading cause of death worldwide [1]. The increase in annual deaths is seen in low- and high-income countries alike. For example, in the U.S., an estimated 37,133 people died in road crashes in 2017 [2], which constituted a 7.5% increase from the average annual deaths recorded in 2012–2016 [3]. In addition to the massive loss of life, motor vehicle (which is used to capture passenger cars, motorcycles, buses and trucks) crashes cause significant economic losses. According to the World Health Organization [4], "road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product." In the U.S., it is estimated that the total value of societal harm from motor vehicle crashes exceeds \$830 billion annually [5], which is equivalent to ≈4.4% of the country's gross domestic product [6].

Consequently, there are multiple diverse streams of research dedicated to curbing such driving-related risks. This review focuses on data analytics approaches, which revolve around the idea of using data to characterize and predict traffic risk in order to prescribe better (safer) routes, driver assignments, rest breaks, etc. With the advances in information technology it is possible to collect ever increasing amounts of relevant data, such as comprehensive incident databases, real-time driving data feeds, or relevant factor characteristics (e.g., detailed historical and forecasted weather and traffic reports). Further, there has been a tremendous improvement in the variety and capabilities of data analytics tools and methods that can be applied to all steps of modeling (data collection, processing, prediction, or prescription). The goal of this study then, is to pull together and categorize the existing literature on different aspects of research relevant to enabling data-driven analytics approaches to traffic safety.

The study was inspired by an observation that there exists an apparent disconnect between two essential facets of pertinent research efforts: statistical modeling of crash risk on one hand and prescriptive modeling for decision making on the other. For example, it is very common in operations research (OR) literature to assume that the crash probability is time-invariant [7,8], and is, in fact, in the range of 10−8 to 10−6 per mile [9]. This contradicts the findings from the predictive stream of research, with multiple efforts studying the effect of real-time crash risk factors (traffic and weather conditions) on the likelihood of a crash. According to the reviews in [10,11] different traffic and weather conditions would result in different crash risk profiles, bringing into question the effectiveness of the methods often used by OR community for considering risk in decision-making process.

In order to further examine this apparent gap we have conducted a more formal bibliographic study. Based on the keywords and search strategy described in the Supplementary Materials Section, we identified 856 relevant documents (i.e., published articles, proceeding papers, and book chapters). To categorize these documents for this review, a text/bibliometric analysis was performed using the *bibliometrix* **R** package [12], with the goals of: (a) examining the co-occurrences of keywords within documents since this shows a link between the topics captured by these keywords; and (b) constructing a conceptual structure map of the literature based on a more streamlined keywords list ("Keyword Plus", see [13] for a detailed introduction). The results are shown in Figure 1a,b, respectively.

In the keyword co-occurence network, induced by the documents found, a pair of keywords is connected by a link, if they appear in the same document (the links are weighted according to the number of co-occurrences). This network is then clustered with K-means clustering algorithm (all parameters selected automatically by *bibliometrix* package). The clusters and most important links (corresponding to more than four co-occurrences) are depicted on Figure 1a with the black and red links depicting within-cluster and between-cluster connections respectively. The conceptual structure map (Figure 1b) aims at identifying the common emerging concepts in the expanded "Keyword Plus" network. Here, dimensionality reduction technique (multidimensional scaling) is applied to the concept co-occurrence network in order to project it to two dimensions, and the result then clustered with a K-means clustering algorithm. More details on the precise implementation can be found in [12].

(**a**) A keyword co-occurrence network of the literature, depicting the 60 most used keywords. The nodes correspond to the keywords, with node size reflecting relative frequency. The links are limited to keywords that co-occurred at least five times (black and red lines correspond to between and within clusters, respectively). The network plot divides the literature into two clusters: prescriptive modeling (left), and explanatory/predictive modeling (right).

(**b**) A data-driven conceptual structure map based on "Keywords Plus" (keywords tagged by the ISI or SCOPUS database scientific experts) and the application of multiple correspondance analysis and *k-*means clustering. The nodes are limited to keywords that have occurred ≥ 5 times, and the gray circle and orange triangle depict the corresponding cluster center. Similar to Figure 1a, the concept map also divides the literature into the same two clusters.

**Figure 1.** A bibliographic analysis of the literature using the *bibliometrix* package in **R**.

Based on Figure 1, two important observations can be made. First, the literature can indeed be grouped into two main groups: (a) an explanatory/predictive modeling stream, where the keywords emphasize the collected data (loop detector data), predictors (traffic, weather, time and/or infrastructure), models used (regression, spatial-analysis, Poisson-gamma and negative binomial), and model outcomes (rates, crash frequencies, and crash prediction); and (b) a prescriptive modeling stream, where the focus is on developing algorithms to manage risk, particularly for hazardous materials (hazmat) trucking, through the selection of paths and routes. Second, the cluster agreement between the keyword co-occurrence network and the concept map generated using the Web of Science's Keywords Plus field implies that there is a clear division between the two research streams, despite the fact that the outputs from the first stream should be inputs for the optimization models used for prescriptive decision-making. Based on the second insight and a separate thorough examination of the relevant operations research (OR) literature we can then conclude that the prescriptive literature largely ignores the recent results on factors influencing crash risk.

Against this backdrop, the primary purpose of this review is to help bridge the gap between the different research streams that relate to the modeling and minimization of crash risk. Our goal is to bring the research into better focus and to encourage future work that crosses the siloed divisions within the literature. To achieve this goal, we divide this review into two parts. Part 1 covers the sensing, data acquisition, data exploration, and explanatory/predictive modeling, i.e., focuses on the first research stream. Part 2 reviews the prescriptive modeling component (i.e., second stream), provides a simple case study for how both streams can be integrated, and presents ideas for future research. Note that the research presented in Part 2 primarily targets hazardous materials (hazmat) trucking operations, where optimization models are used to minimize crash risk through path/route selection and/or rest-break scheduling, while meeting delivery requirements. On the other hand, in Part 1, the research relates to both commuters and commercial drivers since the unit of analysis is a "road segment".

This paper is structured to follow the standard data analytics framework: data collection −→ data exploration −→ predictive modeling. The final part—prescriptive modeling—is discussed in Part 2 of this effort. We would like to emphasize that in addition to the need for connecting siloed research streams identified above, there also may exist a relatively high "start-up cost" for initiating new efforts in this area. Specifically, as we survey in the remainder of this paper, there exist multitudes of disparate datasets, data processing approaches and statistical methods that all may be relevant. Hence, the goal of this review is to attempt to reduce this burden by categorizing the existing efforts. The remainder of the first part of this review is structured utilizing a data analytic framework (data collection −→ data exploration −→ predictive modeling). We present an overview of the sensors and data collection mechanisms used in these studies in Section 2. In Section 3, we provide a taxonomy and review of the commonly utilized data exploration and summarization techniques. Then, we synthesize the explanatory/predictive modeling techniques used for crash risk modeling in Section 4. We offer our concluding remarks in Section 5, and provide links for our code and analysis in the Supplementary Materials Section.

#### **2. Data Acquisition Protocols: An Overview of the Types of Collected Data and Their Associated Sensing Systems**

In this section, we provide an overview of the data acquisition strategies typically used in motor vehicle safety studies as well as a brief to introduction to the corresponding sensing systems. The ability to extract such data is an indispensable component in any crash risk prediction study, yet it is typically under-described. Thus, we view this section as an important practical contribution of our review since a potential reason for the gap between the predictive and prescriptive analytic research streams can be attributed to the "large start-up burden", associated with the lack of sufficient/targeted documentation for collecting quality data. While we primarily focus on U.S.-based systems, the protocols described here can be extended to many transportation locales. To facilitate and encourage the collection of data pertaining to important factor sets (per the reviews of Theofilatos and Yannis [10] and Roshandel et al. [11]) in future prescriptive studies, we provide **R** code that can be used to scrape data for many important crash risk predictors (see the link in our Supplementary Materials Section).

It must be emphasized that both data sources needed and data acquisition methods used to access these sources depend on the design of the study in question. Specifically, since this review is focused on the literature dedicated to models for quantifying crash risks, the corresponding studies can generally be divided into two main study designs: (a) retrospective case-control studies in which police crash reports are used, and (b) prospective naturalistic driving studies (NDS), in which a pre-specified set of drivers is followed for a certain period of time. As one can expect, the choice of study design affects the data collection mechanism (as well as the statistical methodologies used for analysis, which are discussed in Section 4). For the sake of completeness, we provide some background on each of these two design strategies in the following subsection.

#### *2.1. Background: Study Designs*

Most research on motor vehicle safety has assumed that the sampling unit is a spatiotemporal snapshot of a highway, i.e., researchers typically study a given section of a highway for a pre-specified time period. Note that it is not sufficient to study the conditions under which crashes tend to occur; one must also study the conditions under which crashes do not occur, and compare the two. The problem is analogous to that faced by epidemiologists when investigating the cause(s) of a disease, where they examine the prior behavior of individuals with and without a disease and attempt to identify differences in their prior behavior. The most common design that epidemiologists use is the case-control design. A number of individuals with the disease are first identified, representing the cases. The demographic and behavioral characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race, smoking status, body mass index, etc.) for the cases are then determined/computed. A control group, as similar as possible to the case group, is then identified. In a matched pair case-control study, each case is matched with one or more control subjects.

In motor vehicle highway safety applications, these retrospective case-control studies are typically conducted using police crash reports. In the U.S., crash reports include information pertaining to number of vehicles, involvement of pedestrians, number of injuries/fatalities, road type, crash location, date-time, intersection type, presence of a nearby work zone, weather conditions, and road surface conditions [14,15]. While a lot of information can be captured in these reports, case-control studies are inherently limited for two main reasons. First, the information captured in the crash reports combines: (a) factual information, e.g., type of road and number of vehicles involved in the crash; (b) information that is estimated by the police officer, e.g., classifying weather into one of pre-defined categories; and (c) information captured from witnesses which is subject to recall and/or information bias, e.g., it is often hard to gauge the veracity of information extracted from drivers involved in the crash. Second, the inference from case-control studies can be limited when the denominator (e.g., non-crashes or healthy individuals) is unknown to the researchers [16]. In highway safety research, traffic flows can be captured using cameras and on-the-road sensors; however, such information is not typically available for every road segment (e.g., in rural local roads and/or for all highway exits). Thus, this is a prevalent issue in existing case-control highway safety studies.

To alleviate the limitations in case-control studies, there has been an increasing number of prospective naturalistic driving studies (NDSs) in the past decade. Contrary to the case-control studies, the information is captured via one or more sensors that are mounted in the vehicle in an effort to collect [17]: (a) high-resolution real-time driving data under real-world circumstances; (b) location/GPS, speed, and multiple views of the driver/road; and (c) naturalistic/individualized driving behaviors that can help explain differences if a crash is observed during the study period. Compared to traditional case-control studies, NDSs resemble prospective cohort studies, where a pre-specified set of drivers is followed for a certain period of time. The sampling units here are the drivers instead of road segments, and all the events or non-events of the sample drivers are collected. Therefore, it is possible to compare the rates of events in NDSs. In addition, the data are automatically collected using sensors, which minimizes the impact of police/witnesses' judgement in imputing the data and/or estimating values for certain predictors.

#### *2.2. Outcome Variables Used in Crash Risk Modeling*

In retrospective case-control studies, the most frequently used outcome variable is crash counts. In the U.S., historical crash data are hosted by different Department of Transportation (DoT) divisions depending on: (a) the types of vehicles involved, i.e., commercial vehicles or personal commuter vehicles; and (b) whether the crash resulted in any fatalities. When these models are utilized/deployed for predictive purposes, real-time traffic data can often be used as model inputs. In the U.S., such data can be obtained from state specific reporting systems. For example, the 511 reporting system highlighted in Figure 2, is the predominately used sensing system in the U.S. since it is used by more than 45 states [18]. On the other hand, in prospective NDSs, the use of safety-critical events (SCEs) as a proxy outcome variable is more common since: (a) NDSs do not focus on crash-prone highways, (b) SCEs have a much higher incidence rate than crashes, and (c) they are assumed to be positively correlated with the incidence of crashes [16,19]. SCEs are defined as events that avoid crashes by last-second evasive maneuver(s) [16]. The most commonly studied SCE is "hard brakes", which can be detected using accelerometers/inertial measurement units mounted in the vehicle or through a driver's smart phone. The identification of a "hard break" is threshold dependent; for example, several studies equate a "hard break" to a deceleration higher than 3.0 m/s2 [20,21]. Several detailed reviews have been published on surrogate indicators using in the field of traffic safety [22–24]. It is important to note that, while SCE has been extensively used as the outcome variable in NDSs, its validity and causal relationship with crashes have not yet been conclusively confirmed [25,26]. We provide a visual summary of the hierarchical nature of the described outcome variables in Figure 2.

**Figure 2.** A hierarchical view of outcome variables in crash risk modeling studies. The first level captures the data type, the second level shows the frequency, and the third level highlights examples and sources. \* Acronyms: FMCSA = Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, NHTSA = National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, VT = Virginia Tech. \*\* Code: To simplify the data collection process, we present the **R** code needed to scrape and clean these different data sources at: https: //caimiao0714.github.io/TrafficSafetyReviewRmarkdown/.

#### *2.3. Predictor Variables Used in Crash Risk Modeling*

Factors that have been shown in the literature to contribute to motor vehicle crash risk are discussed in detail in Section 4. Here we concentrate on strategies and sensing technologies used to obtain relevant data. From a data acquisition viewpoint, the sensors can be divided into [27]: (a) intra-vehicular sensing platforms, where conditions extracted from the vehicle are captured, and (b) urban sensing platforms, where the sensors are integrated in the road infrastructure. Intra-vehicular sensors can capture driver behavior, vehicle speed, traffic environment, etc. [28], and are widely used in NDS studies. On the other hand, urban sensing platforms are more commonly utilized in case-control studies.We can categorize such platforms into the following three categories: (a) traffic sensing systems (e.g., traffic cameras, inductive loop detectors, infrafred sensors), which can be used to estimate traffic flow, speed, occupancy, and volume [27]; (b) weather sensing systems, which can be used to compute/estimate important factors for both explanatory/predictive (e.g., visibility, rain/snow accumulation, and potential for icy conditions) and prescriptive modeling (e.g., wind direction and speed which are important considerations in hazardous material routing since they are used in predicting the severity of a possible crash through estimating the radius of dispersion of toxic materials); and (c) geometric road descriptors (e.g., number of lanes, speed limit information, longitudinal grade, road shoulder width, and whether the road segment of interest contains a straight, merge, and/or diverge sections), which are typically tagged in geographic information systems (GIS) and can be accessed using popular application programming interfaces (APIs) such as *OpenStreetMaps* [29,30]. A visual summary of predictor variables extracted from urban sensing systems is provided in Figure 3.

**Figure 3.** A hierarchy of predictor variables used in modeling crash risk. The first level captures the data type, the second level shows the frequency, and the third level highlights examples and sources. \* Acronyms: AADT = Annual Average Daily Traffic, FHWA = U.S. Federal Highway Administration, DoT = U.S. Department of Transportation, and NOAA = U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. \*\* Code: To simplify the data collection process, we present the **R** code needed to scrape and clean these different data sources at: https://caimiao0714.github.io/ TrafficSafetyReviewRmarkdown/.

#### **3. Descriptive Analytic Tools Used for Understanding Crash Data**

In this section, we review the exploratory data analysis (EDA) techniques used to examine transportation datasets prior to the explanatory/predictive modeling stage. EDA is an especially important pre-processing steps when dealing with large datasets, where predictive modeling and optimization can be computationally intensive. In Figure 4, we depict the two major goals of EDA as well as the methodologies used to achieve these goals. Note that these methods may not be mutually exclusive and can be used to complement each other.

**Figure 4.** Exploratory data analysis (EDA) goals and their associated techniques/methodological frameworks.

#### *3.1. Data Summarization and Visualization*

Data summarization include both univariate (e.g., central tendency, dispersion, etc.) and multivariate tools (e.g., correlation). We assume that both predictive and prescriptive modeling researchers are well-versed with these methods, and thus we will not discuss them here (see Washington et al. [31] for a detailed introduction). As a complement to data summarization, data visualization is a succinct approach to understanding trends, patterns, and anomalies in data. In a survey paper on the application of visualization techniques for traffic datasets, Chen et al. [32] categorized visualization approaches based on four data types: (a) temporal data, (b) spatial data, (c) spatiotemporal data, and (d) multivariate data. This framework can be extended to more comprehensive crash modeling studies where traffic, weather and other predictor sets are combined. Table 1 presents an overview of the appropriate/recommended visualization techniques for each data type, with example references from the literature. In the following subsections, we discuss each of these groups in further detail.

**Table 1.** Categorizing visualization techniques for transportation data, adapted from Chen et al. [32].

#### 3.1.1. Visualization of Time-Oriented Data

Line graphs are the most frequently used visualization technique for time-oriented data, where the *x-*axis represents time and *y-*axis demonstrates transportation-related variable. There are numerous applications of line graphs in traffic/crash visualizations, for example, visualizations of tips per trip and fare per miles-driven among New York City taxi drivers [36], carbon monoxide pollution over the course of the day in London [60], traffic volumes in Beijing, China [33] and Porto, Portugal [34], or the effects of road surface conditions and time of day on traffic volumes [35]. Since line graphs can become visually overwhelming as the number of variables increases. Other time-series based graphs can be considered in this case, such as *ThemeRiver stacked chart* [61], which uses a flowing river metaphor to capture changes in several variables of interest over time. This chart was used by Guo et al. [37] for understanding traffic volume patterns.

When the data are inherently periodic or cyclic, three charts can be applied [32]: radial layout, cluster- and calendar-based (where line graphs are used for showing cluster averages over time, and calendar-based charts are used to show cluster membership per day) [62], and statistically derived charts. Pu et al. [39] used the radial layout chart to depict traffic volumes in different days and times. Tsai et al. [38] showed how the cluster- and calendar-based charts can be effective in understanding traffic flows in the state of Alabama. In their case study, they showed that the data exhibited eight distinct clusters of daily traffic volumes (at hourly intervals within each day). Two of the clusters were somewhat unexpected, where one captured game-day traffic for college football, and the other captured travel patterns around different holidays (including Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). Statistically derived plots (based on time-series analysis techniques) can be used to quantify the periodic/seasonal nature of the data. From a time-series analysis perspective, the data can be decomposed into: (a) seasonal, (b) trend, and/or (c) cyclical components within a season. These components can be visualized, along with the autocorrelation function (ACF) and the partial autocorrelation function (PACF) for the differenced series to provide an understanding of what type of time-series models to use. The reader is referred to [31] for a detailed coverage of time-series modeling applied to transportation data analyses.

#### 3.1.2. Visualization of Spatial and Spatiotemporal Data

Crash datasets provide rich spatial information including the location of vehicles, construction sites, road closures, and crashes. Visualizing them spatially gives insight(s) on the geographical patterns and clusters, which may improve the decisions made when setting up the dataset for predictive/ prescriptive modeling. Chen et al. [32] presented three visualization options (point-based, line-based, and region-based visualizations), which should be selected based on the dataset's aggregation level.

In point-based visualizations, each symbol on a map represents the position of an object at a given point in time. An example of such a visualization is the motor vehicle fatality symbol map, which is used by NHTSA to depict fatalities [40]. We provide a screenshot of their dashboard in Figure 5, showing the location of vehicle occupants killed in speed-related crashes on Saturdays in December 2016.

Popularized by the ubiquity of modern navigation applications, a line map visualizes travel routes and traffic flow. An example can be found at [42], who presented the trip patterns in Bristol, England. They used the "line width" to encode the number of trips and "color" to encode active travel percents. Given the widespread use of navigation applications, we do not discuss other examples in this review.

Region-based spatial visualizations include three popular visualization techniques. The first is the "proportional symbols map" [43], where the size of a point/symbol in a map is proportional to the number of observations in that location. This can be seen as an extension to the point-based visualization, where the point-position on the map is now used to encode count. The second technique is based on "choropleth maps" [44–46], where areas/regions in maps are shaded, colored, or patterned relative to the value of the metric of interest. These maps are common when comparing crash/fatality rates between larger geographic regions (e.g., counties, states, or countries). The third, and least commonly used visualization is the "radial metaphor". One existing application was provided by Zeng et al. [47], who used a "radial metaphor" chart to visualize interchanging traffic patterns among different regions of a city.

**Figure 5.** Symbol map showing the location of vehicle occupants killed in speed-related crashes in the US in December, 2016. The dashboard is available at [40].

For spatiotemporal visualizations, there are two overarching strategies that can be used. The first strategy is intended for web-based visualizations, where a time effect is added to the map by animation or transition effects. Examples can be found in [50,51]. On the other hand, the second strategy is intended for print and utilizes dedicated visualization methodologies. Space-time-cube (STC) visualizations, are the most commonly utilized approach, where the *x* and *y* axes are used to capture spatial information, while the temporal information is shown on the *z* axis [48]. Applications of such technique include: (a) traffic analysis where the changes in a traffic-related variable of multiple vehicles across time and space is shown by stacking-based STC [52]; and (b) crash analysis where crashes are displayed and tracked based on their spatiotemporal information by an enhanced version of standard STC [49,63]. Despite their perceived utility for showing spatiotemporal patterns in a 2-dimensional screen/paper, we do not recommend this approach since the actual values cannot be easily shown and comparisons depend on one's ability to estimate the patterns over space and time. Instead, we would recommend the use of either panel visualizations (i.e., trellis/ small multiples), or a tabulated representation of the results to show the time component.

#### 3.1.3. Visualization of High-Dimensional Datasets

For high-dimensional data, visualization requires more data cleaning and curation. On the lower end of the spectrum, Parallel coordinates plots (PCP) and trellis (small multiples of bar charts or scatter plots) are commonly used fast plotting tools and require less data preprocessing. For example, PCP can be applied to visualize the correlation/interaction among several crash descriptors including: cars involved, day/month effects, incident type, and road condition [45,53,55]. Additionally, the trellis plot was used by Cottrill and Thakuriah [54] to visualize variations in the number of crashes by different census tracts. On the upper end of the analytical spectrum, visualizations are preceded with the application of projection methods to reduce the problem's dimensionality. Examples include: (a) Van Huysduynen et al. [57] where cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling were used to produce a 2-dimensional (2D) plot of the relationship between the different constructs and types of drivers examined in the study; (b) Das et al. [59] who utilized multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to present a proximity map of key factors contributing to wrong-way driving in a 2D space; (c) Liu et al. [58] where the multivariate time-series data capturing the driver behavior were reduced to a 3D feature space using deep learning techniques, and then visualized using a driving color map.

## *3.2. Dimension Reduction*

In the previous subsection, we highlighted how projection methods can be used to reduce the data dimensionality and assist in its visualization. Here, we discuss how dimension reduction techniques can be used to prepare the data for the predictive modeling stage. In general, there are three main goals for dimension reduction: (a) feature selection, where important variables are identified and selected; (b) feature extraction/generation, where the variable set is projected into lower subspace without losing significant information and; and (c) clustering, where similar observations are grouped together. Since researchers could combine these approaches in their analysis, we classified dimension reduction methods according to their goals.

## 3.2.1. Feature Selection

One of the recommended steps before the use of statistical and machine learning models is to identify and use only the variables/features deemed important for the analysis since this [64]: (a) avoids over-fitting, (b) reduces the computational complexity in the analysis, and (c) leads to better prediction performance. This step is often referred to as variable or feature selection. In the context of crash prediction models, variable selection plays an important role since there are many potential predictors (e.g., traffic, weather, road geometry related variables) which may have effect on the probability of a crash. In addition, in order to capture the spatial and temporal effects of these variables, new variables need to be introduced in the model. For instance, Shi and Abdel-Aty [65] developed a crash prediction model where each traffic-related variable is collected prior to the crash from two upstream and two downstream sensors. This means that the information for each traffic variable is divided across four variables, and that these variables contain some redundant information within them. In such cases, feature/variable selection will improve model performance [66–70]. For the sake of conciseness, hereafter we use the term feature selection to denote feature and variable selection methods.

Feature selection methods can be classified into three groups: filter, wrapper, and embedded methods [71]. In the filter methods, the process of selecting a subset of features is independent from the statistical and machine learning model used, i.e., a subset of features will be selected according to an algorithm (e.g., Pearson correlation or Mutual Information Criterion), and then the selected features will be the inputs to the explanatory/predictive model. Advantages of filter methods include: (a) simplicity, (b) computational efficiency, (c) speed, and (d) reduction of the risk of over-fitting. However, they can ignore the dependency between features and do not guarantee the selection of an optimal set of features [71,72]. In contrast, wrapper methods consider the prediction performance of the classifier (while accounting for the dependencies/interactions between features) and subsets the feature space using heuristic searching algorithms such as genetic algorithms [73] and particle swarm optimization [74]. While they can improve performance when compared to filter methodologies, they are computationally inefficient. In addition, they also do not guarantee optimality and may over-fit [71,72]. To avoid such problems, feature selection is a part of the model training process in embedded approaches, which makes them the preferred approach in many crash risk modeling scenarios. Random forest (RF) was widely used in the literature as a feature selection method and to determine variable importance [69,70,75]. For more information about the feature selection methods and their applications, we refer the reader to Saeys et al. [72], Guyon and Elisseeff [76], Jovi´c et al. [77].

#### 3.2.2. Feature Extraction

Feature extraction methods offer an alternative approach to dimension reduction by projecting input space to a more efficient dimension space. The projection can combine input variables, reduce the problem complexity, and present a useful abstraction of the data [78]. Thus, feature extraction differs from feature selection as the focus is not on dropping unimportant variables, but rather to combine the information across the variables through a mathematical transformation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is the most commonly used feature extraction method in the crash prediction literature [79–84]. Through an orthogonal transformation, PCA transforms the original variables into a set of linearly uncorrelated variables (i.e., principal components, PCs). Typically, the variation in the data can be explained with a few PCs, which reduces the dimensionality of the problem with minor loss of information. The determination of the number of PCs to retain is often determined through a scree plot or a threshold for the eigenvalues [85]. Since PCA was originally designed for numeric variables that can be linearly combined, there are several extensions to PCA which do not require such assumptions. These include: (a) probabilistic PCA [86], (b) non-linear PCA [78], and (c) kernel-based PCA [87]. These methods have also been implemented extensively in the literature [78].


**About the Special Issue Editor**

**Shiladitya Paul** Director, Materials Innovation Centre, University of Leicester and Materials R&D Manager, TWI. He is an innovative technology specialist, with experience in the industrial development and application of specialised coatings, materials and corrosion mitigation methods. He specialises in coatings and corrosion. His chapters in the Encyclopaedia of Aerospace Engineering (Wiley, 2010) and the ASM Handbook (ASM International, 2013) are widely considered as authoritative reference works, providing critical scientific concepts and their application to engineering practice. He has authored over 80 papers/articles on materials, coatings and corrosion. He is active in the scientific community, as a peer-reviewer and member of the editorial team of several journals. He is also active in several international scientific and industrial committees (Vice Chair of the European Federation of Corrosion WP9, member of several NACE committees). He is a member (judge) of the International Thermal Spray Conference (ITSC) and the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology (JTST) best paper award committees. More information on Shiladitya's research can be found on his ORCID Profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8423-313X.

### *Editorial* **Special Issue: "Coatings for Harsh Environments"**

#### **Shiladitya Paul 1,2**

Received: 14 April 2020; Accepted: 17 April 2020; Published: 20 April 2020

**Abstract:** The operation of numerous safety-critical components in industries around the world relies on protective coatings. These coatings often allow process equipment to be purposeful in environments well beyond the operational limit of the uncoated components. Durability, ease of application, repairability, reliability and long-term performance of such coatings are vital to their application. Therefore, this Special Issue of Coatings, "Coatings for Harsh Environments", is devoted to research and review articles on the metallic, non-metallic and composite coatings used in aggressive environments.

**Keywords:** corrosion; thermal spray; testing; geothermal; high temperature; hot corrosion; oxidation; erosion; wear

#### **Preface**

Humans have taken advantage of materials since prehistorical times, so much so that human civilisation has often been categorised into three archaeological periods: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age [1]. Throughout much of human history, materials played a part in progressing human civilisation, and coatings developed slowly from artistry to technology. The initial developments in coatings were primarily decorative in nature. However, decorative values, which prevailed well past the Renaissance, gave rise to the protective function of coatings [2].

The technology associated with the development of coatings emerged after the Industrial Revolution. Further advancement was heralded by the need for technological developments during the World Wars, truly following the English saying, "necessity is the mother of invention". Not only did coatings fulfil a decorative function but they also allowed engineering to progress to a new level. Humans were able to use materials in extreme environments never before envisaged to be accessible by developing "engineered" coatings. These extreme environments are often called "harsh" environments.

Harsh environments cover areas such as high- and low-temperature, (bio)-chemical and mechanical disturbances (including extreme stresses and stress cycles), electromagnetic noise, pressure, radiation, or vacuum [3]. These environments by their very nature challenge the ability of materials to function. The complexity of components increasingly used for engineering applications mean that a wide variety of coating materials and methods are required for different coating applications. The purpose of these newly developed coatings is not only to protect the component exposed to the harsh environments but also to provide additional functionality where possible. These engineered coatings are able to decrease the production costs compared to other monolithic components. In addition, some of them are also able to reduce the running cost of plants in harsh environments by allowing component repair.

A high-temperature application offers harsh environments where conventional materials often reach the limit of their operability. In such environments, coatings offer affordability and functionality. A few examples of such environments include the gas turbines and the boilers for power generation. The environments in both systems include high temperatures, but the jet engines experience extreme temperatures, thermal cycles and stresses. The thermal barrier coatings offer thermal protection that allows the turbine blades to operate without excessive creep or melting. The coatings not only need

to offer thermal protection but also operate under severe stress without cracking [4]. In addition to ceramic thermal barrier coatings, cermet coatings are also being developed to endure hot corrosion. These coatings when sealed by a high-energy laser offer better corrosion resistance than unsealed coatings [5].

In boiler services, high temperature corrosion and oxidation is a major issue and this is mitigated by using corrosion resistant coatings. Materials such as MoSi2 allow alloys to be used in high-temperature oxidizing environments [6]. Novel coatings of Cr–N and Cr (N,O) are beginning to emerge that allow conventional steels such as 304 to be used in challenging environments [7]. These coatings are also being developed for applications where a high temperature exists in combination with wear and high stresses [8]. The combination of corrosion and wear at high temperatures makes the selection of coatings even more challenging. New concepts involving thermal diffusion coatings are being developed for boilers. Extensive corrosion testing of boronised, aluminised and chromised systems are being carried out to assess their applicability [9].

With the development of new materials such as high-entropy alloys (HEA), nanocrystalline and compositionally complex materials, new test methods need to be developed to assess these materials. If these materials need to be applied as coatings then coating methods need to be adopted to accommodate such materials' chemistries and properties. The phase evolution and deposition parameters need to be assessed. These will govern the performance of such coatings in service. However, prior to their adoption by the industry, testing needs to be carried out. The application of these materials requires corrosion testing, and the correlation between performance and microstructure needs to be established.

Recent developments in the above area have been encouraging. Arc-sprayed Fe-based amorphous/nanocrystalline materials have been developed and tested for cavitation erosion resistance [10]. Electro-spark deposition of CoCrFeNiMo HEA has been developed and the microstructures of the developed coatings have been studied [11]. Other compositionally complex alloys such as CoCrFeMo0.85Ni have been deposited by a high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spray. Their corrosion resistance in an aqueous chloride environment has also been studied [12]. These developments are in their early stages. Further improvements are required prior to the industrial uptake of these materials.

Harsh environments are also encountered by onshore and offshore structures. The combination of groundwater and vibrations for onshore, and seawater, sunlight, waves and tide for offshore have deleterious effects on structural steels. To mitigate corrosion of steel structures and pipelines, several coating systems are being developed. The application depends to some extent on the location of the part to be protected (or the environment). Broadly, two main coating concepts are adopted for corrosion mitigation. First, the use of dielectric barrier layers in conjunction with cathodic protection. Second, the use of sacrificial coatings which act as uniformly distributed anodes. Enamel coatings fall in the first category. These coatings offer protection in conjunction with cathodic protection. However, when damaged the efficacy might be compromised. Evaluation of these coatings when damaged offers new insights into the behaviour of these coatings [13].

Sacrificial coatings offer protection to steel structures by being preferentially consumed, or in other words by providing cathodic protection. In offshore structures and bridges, the choice of coating material depends on the location or the exposure environment. In the top side of the structure, thermally sprayed zinc (and zinc aluminium) alloy coatings in conjunction with a topcoat have a long history of adequate performance, particularly in the Norwegian bridge sector [14]. However, for the submerged zone and the splash zone, thermally sprayed aluminium (TSA) is often considered beneficial. The performance of TSA is dependent on several factors such as the alloy type, coating production method, surface preparation, coating thickness and sealant selection, among others. A review by Syrek-Gerstenkorn et al. [15] covers the area of TSA in detail.

Much of the work presented in this Special Issue focusses on thermal spray coatings. However, there are several other coating methods which are being explored by researchers around the world [16–23]. One such method is organic surface treatment. These treatments have been traditionally carried out using chromates. However, with the REACH regulation coming into force, there has been a concerted effort in finding alternatives to chrome treatments [24]. Treatment of copper by a non-chromate alternative has been found to offer an environmentally friendly technology for the electronics industry, where copper is indispensable [25].

Research work such as the above offers alternatives where the conventional technologies are unsustainable. Similar studies on coatings and surface modifications are ongoing where the preference to ensure the health and safety of fellow humans and the protection of the natural environment has overtaken the drive for quick financial gains. It is imperative that research continues to ensure improvement in the quality of human lives, but with a compassion for nature.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.

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