Tool steel materials selection under fuzzy environment

A fuzzy set multiple criteria decision making approach is proposed to help selecting the most suitable tool steel materials for a specific manufacturing application such as die design, jig and fixture design. The important weights of different criteria and the material suitability ratings of various alterantives under different criteria are given in linguistic terms. Subsequently, they are represented in fuzzy linguistic values and fuzzy numbers. Through aggregation and ranking of fuzzy numbers, the most suitable tool steel material is determined. A hypothetical example is illustrated. Further, by computerizing the proposed method, and incorporating appropriate interface design together with a data base of tool steel materials assessment information from the handbook, a decision support system can be constructed.