Research Article

Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection

Volume: 9 Number: 3 June 30, 2026

Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection

Abstract

Metal surface defect detection is a fundamental quality control challenge in the manufacturing industry. Surface defects, such as holes and crescent-shaped edge defects, directly affect the structural integrity of metal components, making their accurate and timely identification critical in the production pipeline. Single-model deep learning approaches tend to exhibit inconsistent performance across varying imaging conditions, such as blur, noise, and illumination changes, motivating the investigation of multi-model fusion strategies. This paper proposes a hybrid object detection system that integrates YOLOv8s and Faster R-CNN through a Sugeno-type fuzzy inference mechanism for metal surface defect detection. The system operates in three sequential stages: independent inference by both models, fuzzy-weighted fusion using a rule-based confidence evaluation mechanism, and hybrid non-maximum suppression. A greedy intersection-over-union matching algorithm pairs the predictions from both models, and the resulting confidence scores are fuzzified through a Sugeno-type fuzzy inference system to produce adaptive fusion weights. A parametric ablation study was conducted across nine system configurations by varying the membership function boundaries, unmatched detection filters, class-specific rule tables, and hybrid NMS thresholds. The system was evaluated on a custom metal surface dataset containing two defect classes under seven types of synthetic image distortion across 26 sub-levels comprising 2,080 test images. The best-performing configuration achieved a macro-average F1 score of 0.9100 and precision of 0.9437, outperforming four comparison methods, including the standard NMS ensemble, equal-weight fusion, Maximum Confidence Selection, and Weighted Box Fusion. The hybrid system demonstrated superior robustness to Gaussian blur and motion blur conditions compared to either standalone model, with an inference latency of 87.9 ms at 11.4 FPS, confirming its suitability for production-line deployment.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

Sakarya University

Ethical Statement

It is declared that during the preparation process of this study, scientific and ethical principles were followed and all studies benefited from are stated in the bibliography.

Thanks

The authors thank Sakarya University for providing the computational infrastructure used in this study.

References

  1. R. Usamentiaga, D. G. Lema, O. D. Pedrayes, and D. F. Garcia, “Automated Surface Defect Detection in Metals: A Comparative Review of Object Detection and Semantic Segmentation Using Deep Learning,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 4203–4213, 2022, doi: 10.1109/TIA.2022.3151560.
  2. X. Wen, J. Shan, Y. He, and K. Song, “Steel Surface Defect Recognition: A Survey,” Coatings, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 17, 2022, doi: 10.3390/COATINGS13010017.
  3. X. Zheng, S. Zheng, Y. Kong, and J. Chen, “Recent advances in surface defect inspection of industrial products using deep learning techniques,” Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., vol. 113, no. 1–2, pp. 35–58, 2021, doi: 10.1007/S00170-021-06592-8.
  4. Y. Chen, Y. Ding, F. Zhao, E. Zhang, Z. Wu, and L. Shao, “Surface Defect Detection Methods for Industrial Products: A Review,” Appl. Sci., vol. 11, no. 16, p. 7657, 2021, doi: 10.3390/APP11167657.
  5. E. Cumbajin et al., “A Systematic Review on Deep Learning with CNNs Applied to Surface Defect Detection,” J. Imaging, vol. 9, no. 10, p. 193, 2023, doi: 10.3390/JIMAGING9100193.
  6. J. Redmon, S. Divvala, R. Girshick, and A. Farhadi, “You Only Look Once: Unified, Real-Time Object Detection,” in Proc. IEEE Conf. Comput. Vis. Pattern Recognit. (CVPR), 2016, pp. 779–788.
  7. A. Bochkovskiy, C.-Y. Wang, and H.-Y. M. Liao, “YOLOv4: Optimal Speed and Accuracy of Object Detection,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.10934, 2020.
  8. S. Ren, K. He, R. Girshick, and J. Sun, “Faster R-CNN: Towards Real-Time Object Detection with Region Proposal Networks,” IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell., vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 1137–1149, 2017, doi: 10.1109/TPAMI.2016.2577031.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Artificial Intelligence (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

June 22, 2026

Publication Date

June 30, 2026

Submission Date

May 5, 2026

Acceptance Date

May 18, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 9 Number: 3

APA
Şahin, E. B., & Arı, S. (2026). Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection. Sakarya University Journal of Computer and Information Sciences, 9(3), 829-839. https://doi.org/10.35377/saucis...1945069
AMA
1.Şahin EB, Arı S. Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection. SAUCIS. 2026;9(3):829-839. doi:10.35377/saucis.1945069
Chicago
Şahin, Ethem Belka, and Seçkin Arı. 2026. “Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection”. Sakarya University Journal of Computer and Information Sciences 9 (3): 829-39. https://doi.org/10.35377/saucis. 1945069.
EndNote
Şahin EB, Arı S (June 1, 2026) Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection. Sakarya University Journal of Computer and Information Sciences 9 3 829–839.
IEEE
[1]E. B. Şahin and S. Arı, “Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection”, SAUCIS, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 829–839, June 2026, doi: 10.35377/saucis...1945069.
ISNAD
Şahin, Ethem Belka - Arı, Seçkin. “Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection”. Sakarya University Journal of Computer and Information Sciences 9/3 (June 1, 2026): 829-839. https://doi.org/10.35377/saucis. 1945069.
JAMA
1.Şahin EB, Arı S. Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection. SAUCIS. 2026;9:829–839.
MLA
Şahin, Ethem Belka, and Seçkin Arı. “Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection”. Sakarya University Journal of Computer and Information Sciences, vol. 9, no. 3, June 2026, pp. 829-3, doi:10.35377/saucis. 1945069.
Vancouver
1.Ethem Belka Şahin, Seçkin Arı. Fuzzy Logic-Based Hybrid Deep Learning System for Metal Surface Defect Detection. SAUCIS. 2026 Jun. 1;9(3):829-3. doi:10.35377/saucis. 1945069

 

INDEXING & ABSTRACTING & ARCHIVING

 

31045 31044   ResimLink - Resim Yükle  31047 

31043 28939 28938 34240
 

 

29070    The papers in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License