Reliability of information can directly affect the accuracy of decision-making. Compared with classical fuzzy sets, Z-number takes into account the uncertainty in information generation process and ...reliability of information. Z-number can also be an intuitive and effective description form of decision information. Existing research on the distance measure of Z-number is rare, and most of the research works cannot reflect well the advantages of Z-information and the characteristics of Z-number. Given this research gap, this paper simultaneously considered the randomness and fuzziness of Z-number and defined the comprehensive weighted distance measure of Z-number. To extend classic VlseKriterijum-ska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method to the Z-information environment, we suggested the Z-VIKOR method based on the proposed distance measure. This method is convenient and effective for the direct computation of Z-numbers. We also provided an example of multicriteria decision-making for selecting regional circular economy development plan to illustrate the feasibility and validity of our proposed method. We then verified the applicability and superiority of our method through comparative analyses with other existing methods.
The field of occupational health and safety (OHS) focuses on reducing occupational accidents to an acceptable level. OHS covers systematic efforts aimed at providing employee health, safety and ...welfare in the workplace. This study proposes a new approach for risk assessment in the field of OHS. It integrates the Pythagorean fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (PFAHP) and fuzzy VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (FVIKOR) into a risk assessment process. The PFAHP is used in weighting the risk parameters. FVIKOR is then applied to prioritize the hazards. To demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed approach, a case study of a barrel external surface oxidation and colouring unit of a gun and rifle production facility is performed. A comparison is also provided between the proposed approach and an intuitionistic fuzzy sets-based approach. The proposed approach is found to produce reliable outcomes that better represent the vagueness of the decision-making process.
The present study deals with the development of five different brake friction composites to the standard of Indian scenario brake pads by varying the different cashew friction dusts namely furfural ...modified, boron modified, boron-graphite modified, cardanol and CNSL based without varying the other ingredients. The developed brake friction composites were tested for their physical, chemical, mechanical and thermal properties as per industrial standards. The thermal stability was found for varying ingredients and the developed composites using Thermo Gravimetric Analyser. Tribological properties were analysed using full-scale inertia brake dynamometer as per JASO-C-406 Schedule. The ranking of the dyno tested friction composites was done using VIKOR and ELECTRE methods. Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with elemental mapping was used to elucidate back transfer and surface characteristics of the dyno tested brake pads. The results revealed that boron-graphite modified friction dust-based brake pads were beneficial with good fade, wear resistance and recovery characteristics due to its thermally stable and heat dissipating characteristics.
•Utilisation of various cashew friction dusts as an ingredient in brake pads.•Boron-graphite modified friction dust based brake pads showed lower fade & higher recovery rates.•Boron-graphite modified friction dust based brake pads showed less pad and rotor wear.
Konzumacija svježih citrusa, ali i njihova prerada generiraju nusproizvode, kao što su kora, sjemenke, pulpa, kao i otpadne vode. Cilj ovog istraživanja je valorizacija agroindustrijskih nusproizvoda ...(kore citrusa) kao vrijedne sirovine za ekstrakciju polifenola primjenom inovativne netermalne metode ekstrakcije sa zelenim otapalom (voda). U ekstraktima je kvantificirano i identificirano ukupno šest fenolnih spojeva. Pri tome je promatran utjecaj vremena (od 5 do 15 min), frekvencije (od 40 do 100 Hz) i omjera kapljevito/kruto (od 200 do 400 ml g−1) na efikasnost procesa ekstrakcije (iskorištenje) i udio dominantnih fenolnih spojeva (hesperidina i narirutina). Uz pomoć metode odzivnih površina definirani su optimalni parametri promatranog procesa ekstrakcije za svaki od istraživanih odziva, i to za iskorištenje (285,93 ml g−1, 73,38 Hz i 14,84 min), za hesperidin (366,19 ml g−1, 97,56 Hz i 5,1 min) te za narirutin (200 ml g−1, 70 Hz i 15 min). Ekstrakcija potpomognuta visokonaponskim električnim pražnjenjem (HVED ekstrakcija) pokazala se pogodnom za ekstrakciju fenolnih spojeva, pri čemu je izbjegnuta uporaba organskih otapala.
Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a widely used reliability analysis tool for identifying and eliminating known or potential failures in system, design, and process. In traditional FMEA, ...failure modes are evaluated by FMEA team members with respect to three risk factors: severity (S), occurrence (O), and detectability (D), and ranked via their risk priority number (RPN), which is obtained by multiplying the crisp values of S, O, and D. However, traditional RPN has been considerably criticized due to the following shortcomings: not considering the different weights of risk factors; the identical value of RPN for different combinations of S, O, and D; the diversity and uncertainty of evaluation information given by FMEA team members and without considering the dependence among different failure modes. Although significant efforts have been made in FMEA literatures to overcome these shortcomings, there are still some deficiencies. In this paper, a new risk priority model is presented for FMEA by using the house of reliability (HoR)-based rough VIsekriterijumska optimizacija i KOmpromisno Resenje (VIKOR) approach. In the proposed model, the HoR is introduced to identify the dependence among different failure modes and the link between failure modes and the risk factors of O, D and the subcriteria of S. Rough number is introduced to manipulate the subjectivity and vagueness in decision making and VIKOR approach is used to determine the risk priority order of failure modes in a comprehensive way. Finally, an illustrative case in transmission system of a vertical machining center has demonstrated the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed model.
Sustainable urban renewal has received tremendous academic attention and has been put into wide practice around the world. In order to avoid unsustainable renewal projects, the evaluation of the ...sustainability of urban renewal has become a critical procedure. However, there is an insufficient number of relevant studies on ex-ante evaluation compared to a large amount of literature focusing on ex-post evaluation. Most literature does not fully consider the interdependency between the dimensions/criteria of evaluation. How to utilize this to evaluate real cases is shortage. Hence, this study presents an ex-ante decision-making model for evaluating the sustainability of urban renewal projects based on hybrid multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) from a government perspective, and includes three classical dimensions: economic (D1), social and cultural (D2), and environment (D3), as well as 13 relevant criteria. A case in Taiwan is used to evaluate the potential performance of sustainability and explore improvement strategies. Empirical results from the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) reveal that the social and cultural (D2) dimension impact the environment (D3) and economic (D1) dimensions, with the economic (D1) dimension being the most impacted by other dimensions. Enhancing transportation (C5), strengthening the accessibility of various public facilities (C4), preserving local culture (C9), increasing greening and open space (C10), and improving land-use efficiency (C3) are the criteria in the “cause” position, among which strengthening the accessibility of various public facilities (C4) and improving land-use efficiency (C3) are considered to be the core of urban renewal project sustainability based on DEMATEL and the DEMATEL-based analytic network process (DANP). The modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method indicated that the social and cultural (D2) and the environment (D3) dimensions have poor performance. Thereafter relevant improvement strategies and paths are suggested based on an influence network relation map (INRM). The results imply that recent urban renewal policy reform in Taiwan represents a step toward sustainable development.
•Exploring the interdependency between the dimension/criteria for ex-ante sustainable evaluation of urban renewal projects.•A new model of hybrid multiple-attribute decision-making is utilized.•A case in Taiwan is used to evaluate the potential of sustainability and explore improvement strategies.•Results indicate that social and cultural (D2) dimension impact the environment (D3) and economic (D1) dimensions.
Despite the vast research on energy optimization and process integration, there has to date been no synthesis linking these together. This book fills the gap, presenting optimization and integration ...in energy and process engineering. The content is based on the current literature and includes novel approaches developed by the authors.
Various thermal and chemical systems (heat and mass exchangers, thermal and water networks, energy converters, recovery units, solar collectors, and separators) are considered. Thermodynamics, kinetics and economics are used to formulate and solve problems with constraints on process rates, equipment size, environmental parameters, and costs.
Comprehensive coverage of dynamic optimization of energy conversion systems and separation units is provided along with suitable computational algorithms for deterministic and stochastic optimization approaches based on: nonlinear programming, dynamic programming, variational calculus, Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman theory, Pontryagin's maximum principles, and special methods of process integration.
Integration of heat energy and process water within a total site is shown to be a significant factor reducing production costs, in particular costs of utilities for the chemical industry. This integration involves systematic design and optimization of heat exchangers and water networks (HEN and WN). After presenting basic, insight-based Pinch Technology, systematic, optimization-based sequential and simultaneous approaches to design HEN and WN are described. Special consideration is given to the HEN design problem targeting stage, in view of its importance at various levels of system design. Selected, advanced methods for HEN synthesis and retrofit are presented. For WN design a novel approach based on stochastic optimization is described that accounts for both grassroots and revamp design scenarios.
Cilj rada bio je izraditi računalni program koji služi za proračun optimalnog temperaturnog profila hlađenja šaržnog kristalizatora. Kao modelni sustav za istraživanje procesa uzet je kalijev nitrat ...otopljen u vodi. Za izradu matematičkog modela procesa primijenjene su populacijske bilance, odnosno njihova momentna transformacija. Za dobivanje optimalnog temperaturnog profila primijenjena je diskretizacija temperaturnog profila uz globalni algoritam optimizacije. Za provođenje optimizacije primijenjen je genetički algoritam, dok je sustav običnih diferencijalnih jednadžbi rješavan metodom Runge-Kutta 4,5. Funkcija cilja bila je minimiziranje omjera trećeg momenta sekundarnom nukleacijom nastalih kristala i trećeg momenta kristala cjepiva na kraju procesa. U radu je najprije ispitan utjecaj uvjeta zaustavljanja genetičkog algoritma na vrijeme proračuna i vrijednost funkcije. Nakon što je određen optimalni uvjet zaustavljanja, ispitan je utjecaj broja točaka diskretizacije temperaturnog profila na iznos funkcije cilja i potrebno vrijeme proračuna. Ustanovljeno je da je optimalni uvjet za zaustavljanje proračuna kad petnaest članova generacije imaju funkcije cilja koje se ne razlikuju više od tolerancije. Ustanovljeno je da se optimalno rješenje dobiva podjelom temperaturnog profila na osam dijelova. Da bi se ispitala ponovljivost proračuna za optimalne uvjete, proračun je ponavljan devet puta. Optimalni temperaturni profil uspoređen je s linearnim hlađenjem istog trajanja. Rezultati simulacijskih eksperimenata ukazuju na znatno poboljšanje procesa primjenom optimalnog temperaturnog profila naspram linearnog.
•Semantic variables fusion of IFSs in conceptual design based on DS evidence theory.•Conflicting beliefs of ambiguity semantics are considering in the concept evaluation.•IFS-VIKOR model based on ...information entropy is proposed to rank the schemes.•A case study of a new tree climbing and trimming machine is applied and constructed.
Quantifying the uncertain linguistic evaluation from decision-makers (DMs) is one of the most challenging parts in the conceptual design decision. Although fuzzy decision models have been widely used to capture potential uncertainty by assigning a fuzzy term with the certain belief, the ambiguity subjective evaluation of semantic variables with conflict beliefs derived from DMs have not been well addressed. To solve this drawback, a concept decision model based on Dempster-Shafer (DS) evidence theory and intuitionistic fuzzy -Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) considering the ambiguity semantic variables fusion is proposed. Firstly, by incorporating semantic variables of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs), the diversified semantic judgments and its belief will be taken into account to form an ambiguity semantic initial decision matrix; secondly, the DS combination rule will be used to fuse the different semantic variables of multi-DMs in each scheme, update the belief of each semantic variable, and then the semantic fusion value matrix of the scheme will be constructed; finally, the weight of each evaluation objective will be calculated based on the value matrix and information entropy model, IFS-VIKOR model will be constructed to rank the concepts. A case study of the tree climbing and trimming machine will be employed to verify the proposed decision model. This decision model considering diversifying semantic variables and the conflict belief is proven to be effective compared with the IFS-SAW and ISF-TOPSIS.
This study aims at developing a set of appropriate performance evaluation indices mainly based on balanced scorecard (BSC) for extension education centers in universities by utilizing multiple ...criteria decision making (MCDM). Through literature reviews and experts who have real practical experiences in extension education, adequate performance evaluation indices have been selected and then utilizing the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and analytic network process (ANP), respectively, further establishes the causality between the four BSC perspectives as well as the relative weights between evaluation indices. According to this previous result, an empirical analysis of the performance evaluation of extension education centers of three universities at Taoyuan County in Taiwan is illustrated by applying VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). From the analysis results, it indicates that “Learning and growth” is the significant influential factor and it would affect the other three perspectives. In addition, it is discovered that “Internal process” perspective as well as “Financial” perspective play important roles in the performance evaluation of extension education centers. The top three key performance indices are “After-sales service”, “Turnover volume”, and “Net income”. The proposed evaluation model could be considered as a reference for extension education centers in universities to prioritize their improvements on the key performance indices after performing VIKOR analyses.
