Decision support model for the selection of asphalt wearing courses in highly trafficked roads

The suitable choice of the materials forming the wearing course of highly trafficked roads is a delicate task because of their direct interaction with vehicles. Furthermore, modern roads must be planned according to sustainable development goals, which is complex because some of these might be in conflict. Under this premise, this paper develops a multi-criteria decision support model based on the analytic hierarchy process and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution to facilitate the selection of wearing courses in European countries. Variables were modelled using either fuzzy logic or Monte Carlo methods, depending on their nature. The views of a panel of experts on the problem were collected and processed using the generalized reduced gradient algorithm and a distance-based aggregation approach. The results showed a clear preponderance by stone mastic asphalt over the remaining alternatives in different scenarios evaluated through sensitivity analysis. The research leading to these results was framed in the European FP7 Project DURABROADS (No. 605404).The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement No. 605404

Assessment of Cleaner Production Level in Agro based Industries – A Fuzzy Logic Approach

AbstractCleaner Production (CP) is a preventive environmental strategy and across the globe there are plenty of success stories of its initiatives which have not successfully transcended to realize the fruits. In this context, there is a need to promote CP initiative to help the industry, society and environment. Hence, present level of CP is to be assessed which facilitates exploring the potential for further CP. This underscores the need for developing a methodology to estimate the CP level. Generalizing the evaluation of assessment of CP is difficult due to heterogeneous nature of operations in industries. The application of fuzzy logic assists in addressing this complexity by offering a methodology that can be adapted to any type of organization by identifying the appropriate variables. This paper presents a model developed to assess the CP status and implementation of this model on 22 cashew processing units. In the assessment of CP level, contributing parameters viz., process efficiency, environmental degradation, and sustainability aspects are considered. Various dimensions of each contributing parameter is identified and measured in the overall estimation of CP level. The result of the study has useful policy implications for catalyzing the CP initiatives

A fuzzy stochastic multi-criteria model for the selection of urban pervious pavements

Multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM) have been widely used throughout the last years to assist project contractors in selection processes related to the construction field. Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) are an especially suitable discipline to implement these techniques, since they involve important impacts on each branch of sustainability: economy, environment and society. Considering that pervious pavements constitute an efficient solution to manage urban stormwater runoff as a source control system, this paper presents a multi-criteria approach based on the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessments (MIVES) method to facilitate their proper selection. Given the lack of accurate information to shape the behavior of the alternatives regarding some of the criteria defining the decision-making environment, a series of variables are modeled by executing stochastic simulations based on the Monte Carlo methods. Additionally, a group of ten experts from various sectors related to water management was requested to provide their opinions about the importance of the set of selected criteria, according to the comparison levels of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). These judgments are converted into triangular fuzzy numbers, in order to capture the vagueness that human attitude entails when making judgments. A case of study in which the three major types of pervious pavements (porous asphalt, porous concrete and interlocking concrete pavers) are evaluated is presented to demonstrate the potential of the model

End-of-life vehicle management: a comprehensive review

Waste management is gaining very high importance in recent years. As automotive is one of the most critical sectors worldwide, which is rapidly increasing, the management of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) gains importance day by day. Due to legislation and new regulations, actors like users, producers, and treatment facilities are being conferred new responsibilities in the ELV management process. Besides, the ELV management is of vital importance for environment conservation, circular economy and sustainable development. All of these reasons are making the ELV management such a crucial issue to study. Today, the ELV management is a well-positioned and emergent research area. However, the available review papers are focused only on a small area of the ELV management, such as reverse logistics, recovery infrastructure, disassemblability, etc. Besides, a review of state-of-the-art mathematical models for the ELV management is still missing. This paper aims to provide an extensive content analysis overview of studies on the ELV management. A total of 232 studies published in the period 2000-2019 are collected, categorized, reviewed and analyzed. A critical review of the published literature is provided. Gaps in the literature are identified to clarify and suggest future research directions. This review can provide a source of references, valuable insights, and opportunities for researchers interested in the ELV management and inspire their additional attention

Maximising the Circular Economy and Sustainability Outcomes: An End-of-life Tyre Recycling Outlets Selection Model

The increasing concern for sustainability and longing for the transition into the circular economy has fostered an immense interest in re-configuring the end-of-life tyre supply networks. However, the existing literature is incapable of providing sufficient guidance in regard to the allocation of end-of-life tyre among recycling outlets to maximise the circular economy and sustainability outcomes. Hence, this study aims to propose a comprehensive list of evaluation criteria to rank recycling outlets, and develop an end-of-life tyre outlets selection matrix. A hybrid method is proposed by integrating fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process, fuzzy Technique of Order Preference Similarity to the Ideal Solution, the multi-objective linear programming, and semi-structured interviews. By analysing the empirical data collected from one of the largest European collectors, this study reveals that cement manufacturing, which is the primary recycling outlet, ranks the lowest among the five recycling outlets in terms of the circular economy and sustainability outcome. Nevertheless, synthetic turf manufacturing and moulded objects manufacturing rank the highest in the circular economy and sustainability outcomes, respectively. It is proved that cost and profit are key drivers for recycling outlets selection, subjected to end consumers’ perceptions and the ease of end-of-life tyre processing. The ranking and the performance of recycling outlets also signify the competitive relationship between the circular economy and sustainability as excelling in the circular economy outcome would trade-off sustainability performance

A Quality Function Deployment-Based Model for Cutting Fluid Selection

Cutting fluid is applied for numerous reasons while machining a workpiece, like increasing tool life, minimizing workpiece thermal deformation, enhancing surface finish, flushing away chips from cutting surface, and so on. Hence, choosing a proper cutting fluid for a specific machining application becomes important for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of a manufacturing process. Cutting fluid selection is a complex procedure as the decision depends on many complicated interactions, including work material’s machinability, rigorousness of operation, cutting tool material, metallurgical, chemical, and human compatibility, reliability and stability of fluid, and cost. In this paper, a decision making model is developed based on quality function deployment technique with a view to respond to the complex character of cutting fluid selection problem and facilitate judicious selection of cutting fluid from a comprehensive list of available alternatives. In the first example, HD-CUTSOL is recognized as the most suitable cutting fluid for drilling holes in titanium alloy with tungsten carbide tool and in the second example, for performing honing operation on stainless steel alloy with cubic boron nitride tool, CF5 emerges out as the best honing fluid. Implementation of this model would result in cost reduction through decreased manpower requirement, enhanced workforce efficiency, and efficient information exploitation