Application of Interval-Valued AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS in the Quality Classification of the Heaters

Heater's quality classification is a kind of MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision Making) problem whose characteristic includes multiple criteria, imprecision associated with the experts' subjective evaluation, and large scale alternatives. In order to properly handle the characteristic of the problem, a methodology based on interval-valued AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS is presented in this paper. Intervals and fuzzy triangle numbers are used to handle the inherent vagueness and imprecision associated with the experts' evaluation Firstly an interval-valued AHP is used to determine the weights of the criteria of the detection process. Next an extended fuzzy TOPSIS is applied to rank the large scale heaters, so that the heaters could be classified into corresponding rank according to the ranking score. Finally, the case study shows the feasibility of the methodology.