Analytic Hierarchy Process Model Research Articles

MODEL DECISION ANALYSIS IN DETERMINING BUILDING QUALITY BASED ON THE ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS

Building infrastructure consisting of several types of alternatives that provide the need for selection of various kinds of assessments for ranking in carrying out repairs. The purpose of this study is to determine the priority order and condition of building quality, which is useful as a reference in improvement activities related to seeing the satisfaction of policy makers. Problems with building quality can result from various factors, one of which is related to facilities, building repairs and their handling which are feared to affect productivity in assessments and influence policy making. Primary data can be used as research data to be included in the decision model and direct observations can be made at the research location for each building in Dilhokseumawe. This study uses the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model, to determine the weight of the components obtained from the results of the interest assessment of building components which include the level of building damage, building age, ease of access, building structure, roof structure, building safety level. The results of the analysis show that factors the main consideration is improving the level of building security with a value of 0.297858847, the second ranking is the Building Structure factor with a priority value of 0.257685234%, the third ranking is the Ease of Access factor with a priority value of 0.128154963 and the Fourth is Building Age with a value of 0.076683671%. Finally the Roof Structure with a priority value of 0.072065172%. The results of this study can be used as recommendations for decision making in view of the quality of buildings and buildings.
 

Analysis of Factors Affecting the Honeybee Colony Size from the Model-based Perspective

Bees and other important animals are vital to human survival on the earth. They not only produce delicious honey, but also play an indispensable role in plant pollination, making a unique contribution to the world. The bee population reduction crisis is known as a global problem of sustainable development goals. To consider the factors that can influence the size of honey bee populations and how these factors can affect the size of honey bee populations, we will use the most basic evaluation model. Given the need to accurately calculate the weight of each factor, we use the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. In order to analyze the results of the AHP model, we will list our variable factors, apply the AHP model and use sensitivity analysis on it. Also, to predict how many honeybees hives you will need to support pollination of an 81,000 square meters parcel of land containing crops that benefit from pollination. we consider to use Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) model, which can indicate a stationary distribution to the attendance rate of the bees after n times.

An Improved Unascertained Measure-Set Pair Analysis Model Based on Fuzzy AHP and Entropy for Landslide Susceptibility Zonation Mapping

Landslides are one of the most destructive and common geological disasters in the Tonglvshan mining area, which seriously threatens the safety of surrounding residents and the Tonglvshan ancient copper mine site. Therefore, to effectively reduce the landslide risk and protect the safety of the Tonglvshan ancient copper mine site, it is necessary to carry out a systematic assessment of the landslide susceptibility in the study area. Combining the unascertained measure (UM) theory, the dynamic comprehensive weighting (DCW) method based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-entropy weight method and the set pair analysis (SPA) theory, an improved UM-SPA coupling model for landslide susceptibility assessment is proposed in this study. First, a hierarchical evaluation index system including 10 landslide conditioning factors is constructed. Then, the dynamic comprehensive weighting method based on the fuzzy AHP-entropy weight method is used to assign independent comprehensive weights to each evaluation unit. Finally, we optimize the credible degree recognition criteria of UM theory by introducing SPA theory to quantitatively determine the landslide susceptibility level. The results show that the improved UM-SPA model can produce landslide susceptibility zoning maps with high reliability. The whole study area is divided into five susceptibility levels. 5.8% and 10.16% of the Tonglvshan mining area are divided into extremely high susceptibility areas and high susceptibility areas, respectively. The low and extremely low susceptibility areas account for 30.87% and 34.14% of the total area of the study area, respectively. Comparison with the AHP and Entropy-FAHP models indicates that the improved UM-SPA model (AUC = 0.777) shows a better performance than the Entropy-FAHP models (AUC = 0.764) and the conventional AHP (AUC = 0.698). Therefore, these results can provide reference for emergency planning, disaster reduction and prevention decision-making in the Tonglvshan mining area.

Groundwater spring potential zonation using AHP and fuzzy-AHP in Eastern Himalayan region: Papum Pare district, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

In the present study, the groundwater spring potential zone (GSPZ) was identified using an integrated approach of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy-AHP based on multicriteria decision-making (MCDM). Thus, ten associated factors with groundwater springs have been considered: slope, drainage density, lineament density, geomorphology, lithology, soil texture, land use and land cover, rainfall, groundwater level, and spring discharge. The analysis output was categorized into low, moderate, and high. The result of the AHP model shows the area under the high potential zone (16.61%), the moderate potential zone (60.42%), and the low potential zone (22.61%). The result of the fuzzy-AHP model shows that the area falls under the high potential zone (30.40%), moderate potential zone (41.29%), and low potential zone (22.61%). The validation results showed fuzzy-AHP with the area under the curve 0.806, which is slightly better than 0.779 of AHP. So, the resulting GSPZ map confirms that the thematic layers used in the study have a significant role in groundwater spring occurrence and distribution. It was recommended that any groundwater spring rejuvenation or protection activities must be implemented in medium to very high potential zones.

Prioritizing forest conservation strategies using a multi-attribute decision model to address concerns with the survival of the endangered dragon tree (Dracaena ombet Kotschy and Peyr.)

The globally endangered Dracaena ombet is one of the ten dragon multipurpose tree species in arid ecosystems. Anthropogenic and natural factors are now impacting the sustainability of the species. This study was conducted to prioritize criteria and alternative strategies for conservation of the species using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model by involving all relevant stakeholders in the Desa'a dry Afromontane forest, northern Ethiopia. Information about the potential alternative strategies and the criteria for their evaluation were first collected from experts, personal experiences and literature reviews. Afterwards, they were validated using stakeholders' focus group discussions. Five candidate strategies with three evaluation criteria were considered for prioritization using the AHP techniques. The overall priority ranking value of the stakeholders showed that the ecological criterion was deemed as the most essential factor for the choice of the alternative strategies, followed by the economic and social criteria. The minimum cut-off strategy, combining exclosures with collection of only 5% of plant parts from the species, soil and water conservation and habitat protection management options, was selected as the best alternative strategy for sustainable D. ombet conservation. The livelihood losses due to the selected strategy should be compensated by the collection of non-timber forest products, poultry farming, home gardens, rearing small ruminants, beekeeping and agroforestry. This approach may be extended to study other dragon tree species and explore strategies for the conservation of other arid ecosystems.

Development scheme screening considering reservoir damage based on the AHP model

The development process of oil and gas fields is affected by engineering and geology. Reservoir damage is significant as a bridge connecting these two disciplines. The life cycle of oil and gas fields can be prolonged by making development plans that consider reservoir damage. Therefore, this study performed experiments and discusses a Cretaceous reservoir development in the Chun17 block of the Chunguang Oilfield. We have carried out five sensitivity experiments on typical cores from the block, and analyzed lithology, physical properties, and crude oil. A mathematical model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was then established based on the core data.Overall, the reservoir in the study area has ultra-high porosity and high permeability. The reservoir has moderately strong water sensitivity (damage rate is 38 ~ 90%) and moderately strong alkali sensitivity (damage rate is 22 ~ 75%). The crude oil belongs to extra-heavy oil reservoirs (containing 2.43% wax, 0.96% sulfur, 20.25 m% gum, 7.35 m% asphalt, 38.26 m% saturated hydrocarbon, and 27.51 m%). The crude oil is sensitive to temperature changes. Based on the AHP model analysis, the development scheme chooses the third (weight 0.1757) of the conventional analytic results of AHP; the Thermal oil production C1 scheme has the most stable future trend and appears to be the best option. In the next step, using fire flooding technology to develop the reservoir will benefit the most economically. The workflow consisting of "conclusion of reservoir experiment → AHP mathematical modeling → verification of relative permeability of high-temperature oil and water → verification of trial production" is simple and effective. The findings of this study can help to better understand the idea and process of making development plans for sensitive oil and gas fields through reservoir evaluation. Combining experimental data with mathematical modeling can find a balanced combination point in qualitative and quantitative analysis. Whether this combination point is correct can be verified by field engineering practice.

Optimal resilient microgrids formation based on darts game theory approach and emergency demand response program for cyber-physical distribution networks considering natural disasters

In this paper, novel multi-objective microgrids (MGs) formation method-based darts game theory optimization algorithm is proposed. The main objectives are to minimize the total losses, amount of load-shedding, and total restoration cost while ensuring a variety of topological and electrical constraints. The network graph theory represents the formed MG, and the non-linear equations of power flow and loss calculations are adopted in the MG formation model. In the proposed model, the DRERs include diesel generators, fuel cells, micro-turbines, and renewables wind and PV units with energy storage systems. The demand response program includes curtailable loads to improve load profile reduction during peaks. To assess the system's resiliency under extremely inevitable incidents, resiliency metrics are applied. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the modified IEEE 33-bus test system is utilized. Single-fault and multiple faults disaster case studies are performed with and without considering the emergency demand response program (EDRP). The results show the effect of EDRP in minimizing system losses, load-shedding, restoration cost, and improving the resiliency metrics after natural disasters. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model indicates the most efficient operation scenario while achieving the system objectives considering the problem alternatives.

Using appropriate Kappa statistic in evaluating inter-rater reliability. Short communication on “Groundwater vulnerability and contamination risk mapping of semi-arid Totko river basin, India using GIS-based DRASTIC model and AHP techniques”

In this article, some misuses of Kappa statistic in the original paper [Chemosphere, 307, 135831] are discussed. By using DRASTIC and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) models, the authors have assessed the groundwater vulnerability of Totko, India. High nitrate concentrations in groundwater have been found in highly vulnerable areas, and the accuracy of the models has been assessed through Pearson's correlation coefficient and Kappa coefficient. However, using Cohen's Kappa to estimate the intra-rater reliabilities (IRRs) of the two models is not appropriate on the condition of ordinal categorical variables in five categories in the original paper. We briefly introduce the Kappa statistic and propose to use weighted Kappa to compute IRRs under such conditions. To conclude, we recognize that this does not significantly alter the conclusions of the original paper, but it is necessary to ensure that the appropriate statistical tools are used.

Analytic Hierarchy Process Based Selection of Leaders of Start-up Enterprises

The strength of leadership in the context of start-ups is closely related to the innovation and development of enterprises. The stronger the leadership of enterprises, the better the innovation and development of enterprises. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the leadership of enterprises. We can cultivate and improve enterprise leadership to meet enterprises' innovation and development needs in different situations. This paper uses four factors to evaluate enterprise leadership: strategic, communication, personal, and incentive. Assuming the relationship of various influencing factors, it establishes an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model to select the best leaders among three kinds of enterprise leaders. This offers guidance that contributes to the theory and application of the AHP.

Application of AHP and Geospatial Techniques to Delineate Groundwater Potential Zones of Dubrajpur Block, Birbhum District, West Bengal, India

Abstract: Exploration of ground water potential zones is very much essential in a country like India because it is ground water that satisfies the need of drinking water in most of the rural areas of the country. Ground water is also used for different other domestic, agriculture as well as industrial purposes. In present days, Remote Sensing and GIS techniques are successfully being used to delineate ground water potential zones of an area by geographers and planners which gives more or less absolutely correct results and it is also very much cost and time effective. The present study attempts to delineate various groundwater potential zones of Dubrajpur Block of Birbhum District, West Bengal, India. In the present work, groundwater potential zonation mapping has been carried out by overlaying nine thematic layers such as geology, rainfall, drainage density, pond frequency, slope, lineament density, soil texture, geomorphology and landuse/landcover and by giving appropriate weightages to each significant parameter with respect to its influence on groundwater. On the basis of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) model and GIS technology, five groundwater potential zones have been extracted in the study area comprising very good, good, moderate, poor and very poor groundwater potential zones.

Assessment of the incubating environment for investment in biogas technology in Syria by using AHP and SWOT

In light of the massive energy supply shortage due to the Syrian war since 2011, renewable energy adoption has a high potential to cover the actual energy demand. Hence, this study aims to shed light on the factors that affect investment in biogas technology. With the scarcity of research on alternative energies in Syria, this paper focused on the characteristics of the Syrian environment toward biogas technology adoption. The results show that Syrian society accepts and desires to adopt new technologies, representing an optimal strategy to stimulate biogas technology use and the need to spread awareness about its benefits. The SWOT model was applied to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing biogas technology adoption. The analytical hierarchy process model was applied to set priorities and make better decisions related to the knowledge of biogas, acceptance of biogas technology, desire for and common approach for its use, the resulting organic fertilizer, and administrative and financial aspects. The work concludes that the southern region was at the forefront in the areas studied in terms of weights of biogas technology investment criteria, subsequently, the central and later the coastal regions. By presenting a systematic and comprehensive approach, this study represents a roadmap to assist decision-makers in inking decisions related to adopting and deploying biogas technology on a larger scale and contributes to developing a criterion for selecting biogas sites in Syria.

Risk Assessment of Immersed Tube Tunnel Construction

Due to the complexity of risk factors in constructing immersed tube tunnels, it is impossible to accurately identify risks. To solve this problem, and the uncertainty and fuzziness of risk factors, a risk assessment method for immersed tube tunnel construction was proposed based on WBS-RBS (Work Breakdown Structure-Risk Breakdown Structure), improved AHP (analytic hierarchy process), and cloud model theory. WBS-RBS was used to analyze the risk factors of immersed tube tunnel construction from the aspects of the construction process and 4M1E, and built a more comprehensive and accurate construction risk index system. The weight of each index was calculated by the improved AHP of a genetic algorithm. The cloud model theory was used to build the cloud map of risk assessment for immersed tunnel construction and evaluate construction risk. Taking the Dalian Bay subsea tunnel project as an example, the risk assessment method of immersed tunnel construction was verified. The results showed that this method not only solved the problem of failing the consistency check in the higher-order judgment matrix but also improved the consistency pass rate by 33.3% and accurately reflected the risk assessment results. The assessment results show that the construction risk level of the Dalian Bay submarine-immersed tunnel is medium. The risk level of indicators “slope instability” and “water-stop damage” are high risk, while “pipe section cracking”, “low underwater alignment accuracy”, “uneven crimping of a water-stop”, and “uneven substrate treatment” are medium risk. This provides a reference for the risk assessment study of immersed tunnel construction.

Assessment of valorisation opportunities for secondary metallurgy slag through multi-criteria decision making

This paper aims to investigate the valorisation opportunities for the secondary metallurgy slag (SMS) as a by-product of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production. The key stakeholders, their aim and possible configurations of the SMS value chain are identified considering the treatment unit owners and locations, pre-treatment and treatment processes, and collaboration aspects. A multi-criteria Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model has been developed to evaluate value chain configurations according to criteria such as technology, legislation, economic and environmental sustainability, and supply chain. This approach helps analyse the impact of circular economy practices and the opportunities for industrial symbiosis in the European steelmaking areas.The AHP model was tested on the case of Lombardy region that is one of the major European hubs for EAF steel production. Knowledge was collected and formalized from interviews with several experts. The results show economic sustainability has the highest impact on the SMS value chain, followed by CO2 emission and water consumption. The ranking of SMS value chain configurations shows that a pre-treatment phase is essential since it facilitates SMS logistics management and has environmental advantages. A collaborative approach among steel producers or with external recyclers is preferred when there is the readiness of the ecosystem, hardware infrastructure, and legislation about product certificates and operations. In a collaborative system, a value chain consisting of a third-party industry for SMS recycling is preferred to a consortium of producers due to the broader market coverage, environmental sustainability, and higher profits for the recycler.The multi-criteria combined with the multi-expert modelling approach helps balance the importance of different criteria from the actors' points of view, such as steel producers and technology providers. From the theoretical point of view, the analysis shows how an SMS collaborative ecosystem integrated with two recycling facilities reinforces the steelmaking business profitability, market potential, and environmental-friendly solutions. This study can help steel producers decide on the feasibility and profitability of treatment units, collaborating with other producers, or selling SMS to recyclers. In addition, policymakers can analyse the regional perspective, identify potential industrial sectors, and explore new business models.

Operation and Planning of Hangzhou Subway Lines--Route Planning Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process

Through the analysis of all the bus lines in Hangzhou, combined with the subway stations and subway passenger flow, this paper mainly studies how to plan suitable subway lines in Hangzhou to increase the convenience of urban residents to transfer to the bus after the subway arrives at the station. We first analyze the bus station data, select some bus stations with the most routes among thousands of pieces of data, and arrange them in descending order to establish an analytic hierarchy process model. We set the measurement indicators with different weights of planning the subway station by traffic function characteristics, network coordination, economic benefits, construction difficulty and sustainable development, and use MATLAB to take the top 30 bus stations with the most lines as input to solve the design that best meets the indicators. Then we use the perspective of topological graph analysis to plan two subway lines and compare with the current Hangzhou subway network. Finally, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the developed model, and optimize and promote the model.

Multi-criteria decision model for selection of nuclear power plant type

Interests in clean energy revived the nuclear power industry. For the first time in decades, new technologies and plant designs are being considered by regulatory agencies. This shift in both public opinion and regulatory requirements opens opportunities for decision-makers and calls for a decision-making tool to help determine a feasible nuclear power plant (NPP) type. This paper contributes to academic literature by presenting an Analytic Hierarchy Process model to address the problem of selecting a feasible NPP type for construction. A holistic approach is taken, considering high level criteria in the categories of economic, operational, and risk concerns. Subject Matter Expert inputs to the pairwise comparison of priorities and criteria selection aided the analysis. Results show that the traditional NPP designs are closely followed in preference by a newer Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design. From this analysis, several areas of expansion and future work were identified, in hopes of growing the decision-making studies in NPP selection and including more holistic approaches when considering the best NPP type for new construction.

Efficiency analysis of watermelon under plastic film mulching systems

Iran is the main watermelon producer in the world after China and Turkey. However, there is no practical information on which region, tillage and cultivation systems can achieve the most efficient watermelon production system in Iran. This study was conducted to assess the most efficient ways of watermelon production in three agroecosystems (cold, moderate, warm) of Iran using Data Envelopment Analysis. The data were collected from two tillage systems (reduced and conventional) and two groups of watermelon cultivations (conventional system and plastic film mulching system). Accordingly, twelve watermelon production systems were under the study including all inputs and outputs. Finally, an Analytical Hierarchy Process model was used to determine the best region and the best combination of cultivation and tillage systems for watermelon production. The technical and pure technical efficiencies of watermelon production systems were respectively 89%–100%. The Analytical Hierarchy Process model determined that the most efficient watermelon production systems were from combination of plastic film mulching system and reduced tillage in cold and moderate agroecosystem which reduced water and diesel fuel consumption by 500–2500 m3/ha followed by fertilizers by 100–150 kg/ha while efficiencies are enhanced by 20%–32%.

A NEW SOLUTION FOR INCOMPLETE AHP MODEL USING GOAL PROGRAMMING AND SIMILARITY FUNCTION

The pairwise comparison matrix (PCM) is a crucial element of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In many cases, the PCM is incomplete and this complicates the decision-making process. Hence, the present study offers a novel approach for dealing with incomplete information in group decision-making. We present a new model of incomplete AHP using goal programming (GP) and the similarity function. The minimization of this similarity function reduces errors in decision-making. The proposed model will be able to estimate the unknown elements in the pairwise comparison matrix and calculate the weight vectors obtained from the matrices. Several examples are implemented to elaborate on the estimation of unknown elements and weight vectors in the proposed model. The results show that the unknown elements have an acceptable value with an appropriate consistency rate.

Evaluation of physical and mechanical properties of intact sandstones through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

One of the most significant factors affecting the strength and deformation of intact rocks is weathering, which drastically reduces the rocks’ properties. This study used the Analytical Hierarchy Process model to assess the ranking of strength and physical nature of intact sandstone samples from various locations. The AHP analyses considered fine-grained sandstones, four evaluation criteria, and five different Malaysian locations. When the weathering grade decreases, the strength of the rock increases. Weathering causes decrease in dry unit weight and an increase in porosity. The porosity of weak rock materials influences their strength. The effect is more obvious in grade IV materials, where dry and wet conditions can significantly impair rock strength. According to the AHP analysis results, those diverse sites have distinct attributes in terms of numerous evaluation criteria, depending on the location and its geological features. Based on the general evaluation points in this study, Puncak Perdana were found to have the highest rock strength, whereas Kempas presented the lowest rock strength in general. In addition, Beris Dam, Bukit Indah to Mersing, and Desa Tebrau could be declared as second, third and fourth, respectively, in presenting the rock strength quality of various sandstones samples.

Applying Integrated Data Envelopment Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process to Measuring the Efficiency of Tourist Farms: The Case of Slovenia

This paper examines the efficiency of tourist farms in Slovenia by adopting an approach using a framework of non-parametric programming—Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), combining the two because the DEA analysis by itself does not take into account all attributes, especially qualitative ones. The beforementioned two methods rank the farm tourism units with respect to their efficiency. By using the DEA method, an input- and output-oriented BCC and CCR model were introduced to upgrade the criteria by including the additional non-numerical criteria of the AHP. The results of the models showed that there are possible improvements on all levels of efficiency, as well as on the criteria of the additional offer of tourist farms, which were analyzed in the AHP model with additional criteria. According to the estimated efficiency, the ranking of tourist farms differed according to the two methods. Within the group of farms assessed as efficient by DEA, the AHP model allowed a more accurate ranking.

A multi-criteria decision framework for IP valuation method selection: “Valuation case” matters

This paper explores the applicability of IP (Intellectual Property) valuation methods in the university TTOs context by using multi-criteria decision-making frameworks. The IP valuation methods are evaluated for their usage in university IP and Startup valuation, patent or patent-pending technologies, and different Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). Data was collected through in-depth structured interviews and a Delphi survey with 17 experts. By descriptive analysis of responses and consensus rates, we proposed a combined multi-criteria decision-making model of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for university Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) to be utilized in selecting appropriate IP Valuation methods. Findings reveal that more than one method should be used to make well-supported estimates for patent value. DCF method is the most suggested method. Income methods are most favourable on University IP, Startup's IP, non–patented or patent-pending, TRL 1–6 technologies. Findings can help valuation practitioners, especially from TTOs, design roadmaps for IP valuation.