A Framework for Prioritising the Performance Criteria of Natural Fibre Composite Materials: Incorporation of CRITIC-TOPSIS Method

Abstract

Selecting an appropriate Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) method to provide a solution to assist design engineers in prioritising the right criteria in the early design process is essential. Part of the aim of this study is to establish an integration CRITIC-TOPIS for selecting the most efficient framework to choose performance criteria, namely density, tensile strength, Young’s modulus, cellulose, and elongation at break for natural fibre material intended for cap toe shoes like abaca, bamboo, coir, jute, kenaf, sisal. Hence, a new framework was proposed and tested based on integrating Criteria Importance Through Inter Criteria Correlation (CRITIC)-Technique Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Therefore, this proposed framework consists of two phases: the first involves determining the weights of attributes using the CRITIC method, and the second consists of making material criteria decisions using the TOPSIS method. Meanwhile, to achieve this objective, numerical validation was obtained using data from selected past case studies, which were then replicated to validate the output of the proposed framework. According to the validation conducted using CRITIC-TOPSIS, the results show a significant level of similarity, with the rankings being consistent. Therefore, the proposed methodology may provide imprecise and ambiguous information for prioritising the performance criteria of natural fibre composite materials. Moreover, design engineers can utilise this framework in the composite industry to create the best possible evaluation model for composite material criteria selection for various applications.