• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.389-405
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• 2013

A facility layout design (FLD) problem can be generally introduced as assignment of facilities (departments) to a site such that a set of criteria are satisfied or some objectives are minimized (maximized). Hence, it can be considered as a multi-criteria problem due to the presence of qualitative criteria such as maintenance or flexibility and quantitative criteria such as the total cost of handling material. The VIKOR method was developed to solve multiple criteria decision making problems with conflicting and non-commensurable (different units) criteria, assuming that compromising is acceptable for conflict resolution, the decision maker wants a solution that is the closest to the ideal, and the alternatives are evaluated according to all established criteria. This paper proposes a hierarchical analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and VIKOR approach to solve the FLD problem. A computer-aided layout-planning tool is adopted to generate the facility layout problems, as well as their quantitative data. The qualitative performance measures are weighted by AHP. VIKOR is then used to solve the FLD problem. Finally, the proposed integrated procedure is applied to three real-time examples.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.181-181
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• 2023

Flood is a major threat to human society, and scientific assessment of flood risk in human living areas is an important task. In this study, two different methods were used to evaluate the flood in Ulsan City, and the results were comprehensively compared and analyzed. Based on the fuzzy mathematics and VIKOR method of the multi-objective decision system, similar evaluation results were obtained in the study area. The results show that due to the large number of rivers in Ulsan City and the relatively high exposure index, the whole city faces a high risk of flooding. However, fuzzy mathematics theory pays more attention to the negative impact of floods on people, and the adaptability in the Nam-gu District is lower. In contrast, the VIKOR method pays more attention to the positive role of the economy and population in flood protection, and thus obtains a higher score. Both approaches demonstrate that the city of Ulsan faces a high risk of flooding and that its citizens and policymakers need to invest in preventing flood damage.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.123-137
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• 2018

Structural monitoring is the most important part of the construction and operation of the embankment dams. Appropriate instruments selection for dams is vital, as inappropriate selection causes irreparable loss in critical condition. Due to the lack of a systematic approach to determine adequate instruments, a framework based on three comparable Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM) methods, which are VIKOR, technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and Preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE), has been developed. MADM techniques have been widely used for optimizing priorities and determination of the most suitable alternatives. However, the results of the different methods of MADM have indicated inconsistency in ranking alternatives due to closeness of judgements from decision makers. In this study, 9 criteria and 42 geotechnical instruments have been applied. A new method has been developed to determine the decision makers' importance weights and an aggregation method has been introduced to optimally select the most suitable instruments. Consequently, the outcomes of the aggregation ranking correlate about 94% with TOPSIS and VIKOR, and 83% with PROMETHEE methods' results providing remarkably appropriate prioritisation of instruments for embankment dams.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.65-76
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• 2023

Given the limited water resources and the presence of multiple decision makers with different and usually conflicting objectives in the exploitation of water resources systems, especially dam's reservoirs; therefore, the decision to determine the optimal allocation of reservoir water among decision-makers and stakeholders is a difficult task. In this study, by combining a fuzzy VIKOR technique or fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (FMCDM) and the Young's bilateral bargaining model, a new method was developed to determine the optimal quantitative and qualitative water allocation of dam's reservoir water with the aim of increasing the utility of decision makers and stakeholders and reducing the conflicts among them. In this study, by identifying the stakeholders involved in the exploitation of the dam reservoir and determining their utility, the optimal points on trade-off curve with quantitative and qualitative objectives presented by Mojarabi et al. (2019) were ranked based on the quantitative and qualitative criteria, and economic, social and environmental factors using the fuzzy VIKOR technique. In the proposed method, the weights of the criteria were determined by each decision maker using the entropy method. The results of a fuzzy decision-making method demonstrated that the Young's bilateral bargaining model was developed to determine the point agreed between the decisions makers on the trade-off curve. In the proposed method, (a) the opinions of decision makers and stakeholders were considered according to different criteria in the exploitation of the dam reservoir, (b) because the decision makers considered the different factors in addition to quantitative and qualitative criteria, they were willing to participate in bargaining and reconsider their ideals, (c) due to the use of a fuzzy-logic based decision-making approach and considering different criteria, the utility of all decision makers was close to each other and the scope of bargaining became smaller, leading to an increase in the possibility of reaching an agreement in a shorter time period using game theory and (d) all qualitative judgments without considering explicitness of the decision makers were applied to the model using the fuzzy logic. The results of using the proposed method for the optimal exploitation of Iran's 15-Khordad dam reservoir over a 30-year period (1968-1997) showed the possibility of the agreement on the water allocation of the monthly total dissolved solids (TDS)=1,490 mg/L considering the different factors based on the opinions of decision makers and reducing conflicts among them.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.107-128
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• 2017

Energy is a major component of almost all economic, production, and service activities, and rapid population growth, urbanization and industrialization have led to ever growing demand for energy. Limited energy resources and increasingly evident environmental effects of fossil fuel consumption has led to a growing awareness about the importance of further use of renewable energy sources in the countries energy portfolio. Renewable hydrogen production is a convenient method for storage of unstable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy for use in other place or time. In this study, suitability of 25 cities located in Iran's western region for renewable hydrogen production are evaluated by multi-criteria decision making techniques including TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE, SAW, Fuzzy TOPSIS, and also hybrid ranking techniques. The choice of suitable location for the centralized renewable hydrogen production is associated with various technical, economic, social, geographic, and political criteria. This paper describes the criteria affecting the hydrogen production potential in the study region. Determined criteria are weighted with Shannon entropy method, and Angstrom model and wind power model are used to estimate respectively the solar and wind energy production potential in each city and each month. Assuming the use of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer for hydrogen production, the renewable hydrogen production potential of each city is then estimated based on the obtained wind and solar energy generation potentials. The rankings obtained with MCDMs show that Kermanshah is the best option for renewable hydrogen production, and evaluation of renewable hydrogen production capacities show that Gilangharb has the highest capacity among the studied cities.