There are many multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods applicable to material selection. They are simple additive weighting (SAW) method, weighted product method (WPM), analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, analytic network process (ANP) method, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method, gray relational analysis (GRA), VIse Kriterijumska Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method, preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE), extended PROMETHEE (EXPROM) method, elimination and et choice translating reality (ELECTRE) method, complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) method, preference selection index (PSI) method, range of value method (ROVM), rank sum ratio (RSR) method, graph theory and matrix approach (GTMA), multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA), quadrant constellation graph-based method, etc. These methods may produce considerable differences in the material selection results.
However, it is unknown which MCDM method produces more rational results and there is no rational method to determine final overall performance scores of alternative materials.
Yang Won Chol, a researcher at the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, has proposed a new method to determine final overall performance scores and final ranks of alternative materials by combining the results from different MCDM methods in material selection.
The steps are as follows.
First, the overall performance scores and ranks of the alternative materials are calculated using some different MCDM methods.
Second, mean values of the rank correlation coefficients between the rankings obtained from different MCDM methods are calculated before the mean values are assigned as the priority weights of each MCDM method.
Finally, the weighted mean values of the overall performance scores obtained from different MCDM methods are calculated. They are determined as final overall performance scores of alternative materials.
To illustrate the effectiveness, he applied the proposed method to selecting the best tool holder materials using some well-known MCDM methods such as SAW, TOPSIS, GRA, VIKOR, PROMETHEE, and RSR methods.
Conclusively, the following conclusions were drawn:
(i) The proposed method can determine not only the final ranks but also the final overall performance scores of alternative materials by combining the results obtained from individual MCDM methods.
(ii) The proposed method reflects the priority weights of individual MCDM methods to the final overall performance scores and ranks of alternative materials.
(iii) The proposed method may be more reasonable, clearer and simpler than previous methods.
(iv) The proposed method could widely be used to get more reasonable, appropriate, and robust material selection results by combining different available MCDM methods.
If further information is needed, please refer to his paper “A New Material Selection Method Based on Weighted Mean Values of Overall Performance Scores from Different Multicriteria Decision-Making Methods” published in the SCI Journal “Advances in Materials Science and Engineering”.
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