A New Material Selection Method Based on Weighted Mean Values of Overall Performance Scores from Different Multicriteria Decision-Making Methods

Abstract

There are many multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods applicable to material selection. It may produce considerable differences between the material selection results. However, it is unknown which MCDM method has more rational result and there is no rational method to determine final overall performance scores of alternative materials. We propose a new method to determine final overall performance scores and final ranks of alternative materials combined with results from different MCDM methods in material selection. The outline is as follows. First, calculate the overall performance scores and ranks of the alternative materials using some different MCDM methods. Second, calculate mean values of the rank correlation coefficients between the rankings obtained from different MCDM methods and assign the mean values as the priority weights of each MCDM method. Finally, calculate the weighted mean values of the overall performance scores obtained from different MCDM methods and determine them as final overall performance scores of the alternative materials. To illustrate the effectiveness, we apply the proposed method to select best tool holder materials. The method may help material designers and engineers to apply different MCDM methods to material selection and multi-objective optimization of material composition and process, much more effectively and actively.