Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje Research Articles

Towards flood risk mapping based on multi-tiered decision making in a densely urbanized metropolitan city of Istanbul

• The AHP and ANP were performed to assess hazard and vulnerability, respectively. • DEMATEL technique was integrated to define the ANP structure for criteria assessment. • Focus group discussions were conducted at each level of the framework refinement. • Income level and education level have highest weights in vulnerability cluster. • Return period of a storm event is the most significant criteria in hazard cluster. Multi-dimensional risk assessment strategies aided by the active participation of stakeholders are essential to combat flood events for metropolitan cities. This study aims to prioritize the districts of Istanbul regarding flood hazard, flood vulnerability, and flood risk with a multi-tiered comprehensive decision-making procedure. The proposed framework was enriched by focus group discussion, which was conducted through the professionals dealing with flood risk management in Istanbul. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to evaluate hazard criteria while the vulnerability criteria were subjected to the analytical network process (ANP). The structure of the ANP was adjusted by adopting the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. VIKOR (Visekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) method was employed to obtain district scores. Findings highlighted the income level, education level, and population density criteria regarding vulnerability cluster, while the return period of a storm event, storm water pipe network and imperviousness were the most significant hazard criteria. Sensitivity analysis of the VIKOR method also showed the robustness of the adopted methodology and the stability of the computed results under diverging conditions. The proposed generic framework can be replicated in other densely urbanized metropolitan cities and corresponding recommendations could assist decision-makers in achieving sustainable development goals.

The role of contract incompleteness factors in project disputes: a hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision approach

PurposeContract incompleteness with deficiency, inconsistency, defectiveness, and ambiguity in contract clauses, which can cause misunderstandings and misinterpretations, may result with disputes in projects. This study aims to investigate contract incompleteness factors with a hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision approach.Design/methodology/approachContract incompleteness factors were ranked by fuzzy VIKOR (Visekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) method, and the most significant factors were subjected to fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to examine their causal relationships. The study is not limited to ranking the identified factors solely, since their cause-effect interactions are also essential for proper risk management in construction projects.FindingsHybrid use of multi-criteria analysis reveals that ambiguity in enforceability including excessive demands and significant amendments in the scope of works are the top two causal contract incompleteness factors, while lack of implementation details and focus of focal point, and insufficient supporting and technical documents are the most affected ones.Originality/valueContractual causes of disputes due to contract incompleteness factors other than requirements of the contracts have been rarely investigated in the literature. The research is one of the first studies in the literature investigating the causal relationship among factors in construction contracts, which might lead to project disputes. Findings are expected to improve contract drafting, eventually contributing to effective risk management in construction projects.

A combined methodology based on Z-fuzzy numbers for sustainability assessment of hydrogen energy storage systems

One of the most significant ways of providing supply security in energy and effective utilization of energy sources is energy storage. Hydrogen, which is a crucial energy carrier, has received more attention in recent years due to its importance for a carbon-free economy and society. There are various physical and material-based storage methods for hydrogen storage. When examined in terms of factors that may affect the storage decision, each storage alternative has positive and negative features. In this regard, determining the most suitable hydrogen energy storage alternative by considering economic, technological, environmental, and social factors is a decision-making problem which is needed to be handled carefully to benefit from this technology in the most effective way. Since this problem requires the consideration of many criteria, some of which have dependencies among themselves or conflict with each other, and experts' judgments including uncertainty along with different degrees of reliability, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach based on z-fuzzy numbers will be an appropriate tool to make an efficient investment decision. Through that, in this study, a novel combined methodology consisting of Decision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), cognitive mapping, and VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) methods under z-fuzzy environment has been introduced. In the study, after the proposed z-fuzzy DEMATEL method is used to identify the dependencies among energy storage technologies’ assessment criteria, z-fuzzy cognitive mapping is employed to determine the importance degrees of criteria. Finally, the most suitable hydrogen energy storage alternative is selected by utilizing the z-fuzzy VIKOR technique. As a result of applying this methodology, storage capacity and response time have been determined as the most and the least important criteria with the weights of “0.0649” and “0.0447” respectively, and the alternative “carbon nanotubes” has been determined as the most appropriate option for Turkey. Comparative and sensitivity analyses have also been carried out to validate the proposed methodology and demonstrate the flexibility and robustness of decisions. As a result, we aimed to present a beneficial road map for researchers and policymakers studying hydrogen storage.

Detecting the most appropriate delay analysis methods for mega airport projects

PurposeThis study aims to detect the most appropriate delay analysis method in mega airport projects.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the criteria affecting the selection of delay analysis methods were detected through an in-depth literature review and an expert panel, which was conducted with 12 experts who have experience in delay analysis domain in mega airport projects. Later, fuzzy VIKOR (VIsekriterijumska optimizacija i KOmpromisno Resenje) approach was conducted by considering the detected selection criteria and the most common delay analysis methods.FindingsWindows Analysis method was detected as the best option for mega airport projects. It was followed by Time Impact Analysis (TIA), collapsed as-built analysis, as-planned vs as-built method and impacted as-planned method, respectively.Originality/valueEach project has its own characteristics and thus requires specific management techniques; therefore, selecting a delay analysis method without considering the project types and size may cause conflicts between the contracting parties. On the one hand, numerous fruitful studies concerning delay analysis methods have been conducted in the literature, but on the other hand, none of them has considered project characteristics in terms of project size and type while selecting the most appropriate delay analysis method. Moreover, the larger the size of a project is, the more vulnerable it is to encounter with delays. Mega airport construction projects are complex in their nature in that they are large size and involve multi-disciplinary processes; thus, they need special attention in the process of resolving delays. This study intended to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on selection of the most appropriate delay analysis method for mega airport projects, and it is clear that considering the project type and size in the selection of delay analysis methods will provide more reliable outcomes.

Evaluating the satisfaction level of citizens in municipality services by using picture fuzzy VIKOR method: 2014-2019 period analysis

In this study, it is aimed to rank the satisfaction levels of the municipality services. For this purpose, 20 municipal services included in the Life Satisfaction Survey (LSS) that the Turkish Statistical Institution regularly applies every year are considered as alternatives. In addition, the satisfaction of citizens was evaluated not only for the last year, but also for the period of 2014-2019, and these years were considered as a set of criteria. LSS statistics contains the citizens' responses which involve such opinion as abstain and refusal besides yes or no answers. For analyze the effect of all types of opinions on decision process, the participant responses constituting the dataset were converted into Picture Fuzzy Numbers (PFNs) consisting of 4 parameters (positive, neutral, negative, and refusal). Finally, we apply utilize VIKOR (VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) method by using PFNs arithmetic operators and evaluate the citizens’ satisfaction levels of the municipality services. As a result, it was determined that the municipal services with the highest satisfaction were graveyard (A18) and fire-fighting (A17) activities, while the services with the lowest satisfaction were zoning and city planning (A10) and control of food producing facilities (A20).

An Integrated Approach-Based FMECA for Risk Assessment: Application to Offshore Wind Turbine Pitch System

Failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) is a well-known reliability analysis tool for recognizing, evaluating and prioritizing the known or potential failures in system, design, and process. In conventional FMECA, the failure modes are evaluated by using three risk factors, severity (S), occurrence (O) and detectability (D), and their risk priorities are determined by multiplying the crisp values of risk factors to obtain their risk priority numbers (RPNs). However, the conventional RPN has been considerably criticized due to its various shortcomings. Although significant efforts have been made to enhance the performance of traditional FMECA, some drawbacks still exist and need to be addressed in the real application. In this paper, a new FMECA model for risk analysis is proposed by using an integrated approach, which introduces Z-number, Rough number, the Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method and the VIsekriterijumska optimizacija i KOmpromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method to FMECA to overcome its deficiencies in real application. The novelty of this paper in theory is that the proposed approach integrates the strong expressive ability of Z-numbers to vagueness and uncertainty information, the strong point of DEMATEL method in studying the dependence among failure modes, the advantage of rough numbers for aggregating experts’ diversity evaluations, and the strength of VIKOR method to flexibly model multi-criteria decision-making problems. Based on the integrated approach, the proposed risk assessment model can favorably capture and aggregate FMECA team members’ diversity evaluations and prioritize failure modes under different types of uncertainties with considering the failure propagation. In terms of application, the proposed approach was applied to the risk analysis of failure modes in offshore wind turbine pitch system, and it can also be used in many industrial fields for risk assessment and safety analysis.

A Logistics Model Suggestion for A Logistics Centre to Be Established: An Application in Aegean and Central Anatolia Region

The fact that the transport costs directly affect the countries’ economies all around the world and that the transport costs increase depending on the energy resources steered the countries into developing combined transport strategies that will decrease the transport costs. In this study, an assessment is made for the selection of locations of the logistics centers which will contribute to decreasing the transport costs, develop logistics sector strategies in Turkey, and thereby enable to identify the strategies for the fastest, safest, and the most economic transport utilizing integration of modes of transport with each other. Nonetheless, an integrated logistics model which includes freight capacity and selection of the optimum location is proposed for the efficient and useful logistics center. In this logistics model, a freight model, which is a criterion for optimal location selection, has been obtained by using regression analysis. According to this freight model, freight carrying capacity is determined for each alternative region. Optimum location selection has been made utilizing AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process)-VIKOR (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) method. We aim to contribute to the literature by making systematically estimating variable carrying capacities and by being decisive in the logistics center location selection. The proposed logistics model has been applied for a logistics center to be established, and effective and valid results have been obtained.

An Integrated Approach of Multi-Criteria Decision Making to Determine the Most Habitable Planet

Every planet in the universe has its own characteristics. These features make the planets different among themselves. For this reason, all the different properties of the planets must be evaluated at the same time when determining habitable planets. This situation requires a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach. In this study, a list of habitable planets (nine planets and the Moon) has been considered. Seventeen different criteria such as mass, gravity, diameter, density, escape velocity, rotation time, day of length, distance from the sun, perihelion, aphelion, orbital period, orbital velocity, orbital inclination, orbital eccentricity, obliquity to orbit, mean temperature, and number of satellites are taken into account. The weights of criteria are determined with DEMATEL (The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) by analyzing the interactions among criteria. Orbital inclination is the criterion with the highest weight, and the criterion with the lowest weight is the number of satellites. After weighting the criteria with DEMATEL, VIKOR (VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference to Similarity to Ideal Solution) approaches are used to rank the planets. According to the TOPSIS, Earth is ranked first, Venus ranked second and Mercury ranked third in the order of the most habitable planets. According to the VIKOR method, Earth is ranked first, Mars is ranked second, and Mercury is ranked third in the order of the most habitable planets. Finally, the same calculations are considered with equal weights and the results are discussed. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2022-03-02-04 Full Text: PDF

Mini-channel heat exchanger optimization using genetic algorithm and multiple-criteria decision making

This study aims to apply an integrated optimization approach that combines Multi-objective Optimization (MOO) and Multiple-criteria Decision-making (MCDM) to optimize a multiport mini-channel having 2D sawtooth micro fins under laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow conditions. Water was considered as working fluid. The Reynolds number (Re), fin height (Hf), fin width (Wf), the number of micro-fins in each mini-channel (N), and the distance between the successive fins (S1) were selected as design and flow parameters and the Nusselt number (Nu) and the Poiseuille number (Po) were selected as objective functions. A Genetic Algorithm based MOO study was conducted using the correlations available in the literature aiming to find the optimum values of design and flow parameters that maximize Nu and minimize Po. Then, the VIsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method was employed to help designers to select an optimum design among the Pareto optimal solution set which is the output of MOO. Finally, the optimization results obtained were compared with those obtained by the 1st Law of Thermodynamics based Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC). The advantages and disadvantages of these methods were discussed in detail. It is revealed that the integrated approach is a more comprehensive and flexible approach that also covers the results of PEC.

Fuzzy-based GIS approach with new MCDM method for bike-sharing station site selection according to land-use types

Bike-Sharing Systems (BSSs) support urban mobility by strengthening the scope of public transport networks, which may be insufficient in smart cities. This paper aims to present a hybrid approach that includes a Fuzzy Logic (FL)-based Geographic Information System (GIS), the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the VIse Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method, and the Psychometric-VIKOR method for the problem of the selection of BSS station sites depending on transportation and recreational land uses. The FL approach was included in the GIS analysis in order to characterize the uncertainty of a potential passenger's tendency to start a trip at a station within an accessible distance from the urban facilities. By combining fuzzy-based GIS analysis with the AHP method, a spatial analysis was performed for the deployment of BSS stations. The VIKOR and Psychometric-VIKOR methods were used to evaluate the performance of current and alternative locations of BSS station. This study is the first known application of the Psychometric-VIKOR method for the problem of the selection of BSS locations. The innovative hybrid approach can be used by authorities as a useful tool in solving decision-making problems that involve uncertainty in future urban investments.

Adoption of a multi-criteria approach for the selection of operational measures in a maritime environment

In recent times, there have been developments in the maritime industry that underscore the need to optimise operations to yield maximum productivity. Apart from this, stakeholders in this industry have also advocated improvements in seaport operations' critical areas. However, there is no known study in which the relationship between performance criteria and seaport operation measures is investigated. This study proposes a framework for selecting operation measures for the maritime industry. It uses stakeholders' expectations for operational criteria and fuzzy logic to design the framework. Nine criteria were considered in the framework, while Fuzzy VIKOR (VIsekriterijumska optimizacija I KOmpromisno Resenje) and fuzzy Shannon entropy were incorporated into it. The framework's applicability was tested using information that was obtained from Tin can port, Lagos, Nigeria. During this process, hinterland traffic diversion (A1), congestion pricing (A2), off-dock container yards (A3), Fast rail shuttles (A4), expanded rail connections (A5) were considered as alternatives for seaport operational measures. When the developed framework was used to analyse the collected information from Tin Can port, Lagos, Nigeria, the fuzzy VIKOR index ranked the alternatives as A1 » A2 » A3 » A5 » A4. Therefore, this study's insights show that mathematical models can be used to make informed seaports decisions.

Bipolar q-ROF Hybrid Decision Making Model With Golden Cut for Analyzing the Levelized Cost of Renewable Energy Alternatives

Energy costs are the key factors regarding the selection of appropriate renewable energy (RWG) alternatives. All costs of a power plant, such as investment, operation, maintenance, and repair are considered in the scope of levelized costs. Therefore, for the effective determination of the selling price of the energy, levelized cost has a guiding role. Because the levelized costs of RWG alternatives develop the sustainable production and energy consumption for the long term, the leading indicators of these costs should be analyzed significantly. Accordingly, in this study, it is aimed to investigate the levelized cost of RWG alternatives by using bipolar q-rung orthopair fuzzy (q-ROF) hybrid decision-making approach. The novelty of this study is to recommend an integrated decision-making model based on bipolar and q-ROFSs with golden cut. At the first stage, bipolar q-ROF multi stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (M-SWARA) is employed for weighting the selected criteria of levelized costs of RWG alternatives. At the following stage, bipolar q-ROF technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is considered to rank the alternatives in terms of the levelized cost performance. On the other side, vise kriterijumska optimizacija i kompromisno resenje (VIKOR) model is also considered to rank the alternatives. In addition to this issue, the sensitivity analysis is also performed with four cases comparatively. Hence, consistency, reliability and coherency of the proposed model can be measured. It is identified that capacity loss has the greatest importance regarding the levelized cost of RWG projects. Solar is found as the best clean energy type with respect to the levelized cost management performance. In this context, it would be appropriate for investors to design projects close to the center. This will contribute to increasing the efficiency and productivity of these projects.

Multi-criteria Decision Making: A Systematic Review

Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) helps decision makers (DMs) solve highly complex problems. Accordingly, MCDM has been widely used by DMs from various fields as an effective and reliable tool for solving various problems, such as in site and supplier selection, ranking and assessment. This work presents an in-depth survey of past and recent MCDM techniques cited in the literature. These techniques are mainly categorised into pairwise comparison, outranking and distance-based approaches. Some well-known MCDM methods include the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Analytical Network Process (ANP), Elimination et Choix Traduisant la Realité (ELECTRE), Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). Each of these methods is unique and has been used in a vast field of interest to support DMs in solving complex problems. For a complete survey, discussions related to previous issues and challenges and the current implementation of MCDM are also presented.

Comparative Multicriteria Analysis Methods for Ranking Sites for Solar Farm Deployment: A Case Study in Greece

This study investigated the prioritization and ranking problem of the appropriate locations at which to deploy solar photovoltaic (PV) farms. Although different Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods can be found in the literature to address this problem, a comparative analysis of those methods is missing. The aim of this study is to compare four different MCDM approaches to evaluate and rank suitable areas for the deployment of solar PV farms, with the island of Rhodes (Greece) being used as an example. Feasible areas for the location of such facilities were identified with the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), by applying certain exclusion criteria found either in the national legislative framework or in the international literature. Data were obtained from Greek open geospatial data. The feasible sites were evaluated and ranked using four different MCDM methods: the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), the VIKOR (VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje), and the PROMETHEE II (Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment of Evaluations) method. The best alternative rated according to three TOPSIS, VIKOR and PROMETHEE is site (S2). The second-best alternative in the above three methods is site (S1), while the worst is site (S3). The best alternative rated according to AHP (S4) is in sixth position according to TOPSIS and in fifth position VIKOR and PROMETHEE. The comparison demonstrated that different MCDM techniques may generate different ranks. The simultaneous use of several MCDM methods in energy siting problems is considered advantageous as it can help decision makers to select the most sustainable sites, avoiding the disadvantages and availing the advantages of each method.

Power Grid Frequency Regulation Strategy for Photovoltaic Plant Based on Multi-Objective Harris Hawks Optimization

To settle the issue of balance between two objectives, i.e., photovoltaic (PV) power station output power maximization and frequency regulation (FR) signals response, a novel PV reconfiguration strategy is proposed in this work, which maximizes the output power through PV reconfiguration, and meanwhile utilizes the energy storage system (ESS) to decrease the PV plant generated power’ deviation from FR signals. Above all, a model of PV-storage power station reconfiguration is designed to minimize the power bias of both rated power and FR signals. Then, the multi-objective Harris hawks optimization (MHHO) is used to obtain the Pareto front which can optimize the above two objectives due to its high optimization efficiency and speed. Subsequently, the optimal compromise solution is selected by the decision-making method of VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). Aiming to substantiate the efficacy of the proposed technique, the case studies are carried out under partial shading condition (PSC) with constant and time-varying FR signals. The simulation results show that, compared with the situation without optimization, the power deviations of the two objectives are reduced by 25.11 and 75.76% under constant FR signals and 23.27 and 55.81% under time-varying FR signals by proposed method, respectively.

Application of a Novel Hybrid f-SC Risk Analysis Method in the Paint Industry

Occupational health and safety (OHS) activities aim to ensure the full mental and physical well-being of employees in the workplace. For this reason, it is essential to determine the precautions to be taken and the suitability of risk assessments. In this study, f-SC, a novel hybrid risk analysis method using Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM) based on fuzzy logic, was developed to perform a classical Fine–Kinney risk analysis method. There are few studies in the literature about the Fine–Kinney method compared to other risk analysis methods such as FMEA and FTA. Therefore, this work aimed to integrate this classical method with the proposed method to obtain more accurate and sensitive results in risk analyses. First, the criteria used in determining the risk score were weighted with the help of 10 OHS experts. As the criteria used in the classical method are evaluated with equal importance, this situation can cause serious errors in the risk scores obtained with the relevant calculations and in the risk priorities based on these calculations. We aimed to minimize the occurrence of such errors by determining the weights of the criteria with the proposed method. f-SWARA was used for this process. The weights of probability, exposure, and severity criteria were obtained as 0.196, 0.285, and 0.518, respectively. Thus, it was determined that severity is an important and effective criterion for calculating the risk score. In the proposed method, after the criterion weights were determined, an analysis of the hazards was conducted with the f-COPRAS method instead of the classical Fine–Kinney method. Contrary to the numerical values used in the classical method, in this method, decision makers use linguistic terms that are more intuitive than numerical values. These linguistic terms were converted into numerical values using this method based on fuzzy logic, and a ranking of hazards was obtained. As a result of the analyses, it was seen that the case study, H7, which had a 0.557 Ni value, was the most dangerous scenario and that H11, which had a 1.000 Ni value, was the least dangerous. In addition, for the same data, analyses were conducted using the fuzzy Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method, which has been previously used in the literature, and a comparison was made with the f-SC method to demonstrate the validity of the study. The results of the f-VIKOR and classical Fine–Kinney methods were similar to the developed f-SC method. This research provides three contributions: (1) criteria must be weighted to determine risk scores, (2) using intuitive linguistic terms in scoring criteria made the risk analysis method more sensitive and appropriate, and (3) using MCDM methods instead of classical methods for the risk analyses in the OHS field removes uncertainties.

Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Attributes Approach for Carbon-Reduction Construction in Small Islands

Chiang, T., 2022. Multiple-criteria decision-making attributes approach for carbon-reduction construction in small islands. Journal of Coastal Research, 38(2), 310–318. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The group decision-making with dependent attributes problem (GDMDAP) is an increasingly important problem for small islands in the construction industry to achieve carbon-reduction and sustainability goals with a win-win vendor selection process. In this paper, an innovative approach that integrates the stochastic matrix and the VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method is applied to solve the GDMDAP. The 795 records from the 47 carbon-reduction projects in Kinmen, an island with zero carbon visions in Taiwan, are surveyed from 2014 to 2021. The 67% decision attributes in the case study are dependent based on the Spearman's rho test. The test verifies that decision-making is difficult to apply to the traditional multiple-criteria decision-making method for carbon-reduction projects. The analytic network process method is also difficult to estimate because of the range problem of ratio variable scale. Based on the stochastic matrix and modified linear normalization, a 0–100 scale decision matrix with dependent attributes is transferred to a 0–1 scale with less than a two times scores gap. The group VIKOR method is used to integrate the acceptable advantage and acceptable stability. The performances of the traditional ranking method and the proposed approach are compared with one of the 47 carbon-reduction projects. The results show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach.

Study of a Multicriterion Decision-Making Approach to the MQL Turning of AISI 304 Steel Using Hybrid Nanocutting Fluid.

The enormous use of cutting fluid in machining leads to an increase in machining costs, along with different health hazards. Cutting fluid can be used efficiently using the MQL (minimum quantity lubrication) method, which aids in improving the machining performance. This paper contains multiple responses, namely, force, surface roughness, and temperature, so there arises a need for a multicriteria optimization technique. Therefore, in this paper, multiobjective optimization based on ratio analysis (MOORA), VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) are used to solve different multiobjective problems, and response surface methodology is also used for optimization and to validate the results obtained by multicriterion decision-making technique (MCDM) techniques. The design of the experiment is based on the Box–Behnken technique, which used four input parameters: feed rate, depth of cut, cutting speed, and nanofluid concentration, respectively. The experiments were performed on AISI 304 steel in turning with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and found that the use of hybrid nanofluid (Alumina–Graphene) reduces response parameters by approximately 13% in forces, 31% in surface roughness, and 14% in temperature, as compared to Alumina nanofluid. The response parameters are analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), where the depth of cut and feed rate showed a major impact on response parameters. After using all three MCDM techniques, it was found that, at fixed weight factor with each MCDM technique, a similar process parameter was achieved (velocity of 90 m/min, feed of 0.08 mm/min, depth of cut of 0.6 mm, and nanoparticle concentration of 1.5%, respectively) for optimum response. The above stated multicriterion techniques employed in this work aid decision makers in selecting optimum parameters depending upon the desired targets. Thus, this work is a novel approach to studying the effectiveness of hybrid nanofluids in the machining of AISI 304 steel using MCDM techniques.

A fuzzy rough number extended AHP and VIKOR for failure mode and effects analysis under uncertainty

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is one of the most popular reliability analysis techniques due to its outstanding capabilities in identifying, assessing, and eliminating potential failure modes in a wide range of industrial applications. It provides a comprehensive view for investigating potential failures, causes, and effects in designs, products, and processes. However, traditional FMEA is extensively criticized for its defects in determining the criteria weights, identifying the risk priority of failure modes, and handling the uncertainty during the risk evaluation. To resolve these problems, this study proposes a novel fuzzy rough number extended multi-criteria group decision-making (FR-MCGDM) strategy to determine a more rational rank of failure modes by integrating the fuzzy rough number, AHP (analytic hierarchy process), and VIKOR (Serbian: VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje). Above all, a fuzzy rough number is introduced to characterize experts’ judgment, aggregate group risk assessments, and tackle the uncertainty and subjectivity in the risk evaluation. Then a fuzzy rough number enhanced AHP is presented to determine the criteria weights. A fuzzy rough number enhanced VIKOR is proposed to rank the failure modes. A practical case study of the check valve is provided to validate the applicability of the proposed FMEA. Comparative studies demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed FR-MCGDM, with remarkable advantages in handling the uncertainty and subjectivity during failure modes evaluation.

The relative importance of factors influencing the surgeons’ choice between mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery for women with breast cancer

The authors’ aim is to provide breast surgeons’ perspectives on the relative importance of the criteria for choosing an appropriate surgery method between mastectomy (total removal of a breast) and breast-conserving surgery (removal of a breast cancer tumor and some of the normal tissue that surrounds it) for women with breast cancer by using the multicriteria decision-making method (MCDM). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) methods are utilized. A decision hierarchy is set with a goal, criteria, and alternatives. We developed our model based on three main criteria, tumor-related, patient-related, and post-operative process-related factors and nineteen sub-criteria, as well as two alternatives, mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery (BCS). An online questionnaire was sent to the breast surgeons; we showed that the most important criteria are post-operative process-related factors, especially the demand for esthetic appearance based on 39 breast surgeons. Conversely, the least significant criteria are tumor-related factors. Furthermore, breast-conserving surgery is selected as the most appropriate surgery method for breast cancer patients using the AHP, TOPSIS, and VIKOR.