Multicriteria-multistages linguistic evaluation and ranking of machine tools

A model for linguistic evaluation of machine tools parameters, as well as procedure for alternatives ranking is shown in the paper. Linguistic quantification of machine tools' parameters values and their significance for given machining conditions provides the generation of machine tools suitability measure. It enables ranking of alternatives which is done in two stages. First-stage ranking is related to selection of linguistic value from pre-defined dictionary according to generated suitability measure. Second-stage ranking includes evaluation of some additional parameters and experts' subjective belief about their importance for given conditions. For this purpose Choquet integral and Sugeno's lambda-measure have been chosen. Fuzzy sets membership functions of values of appropriate linguistic variables are formed according to literature and empirical information and data and results of an experiment conducted in laboratory and real industrial environment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.