A fuzzy optimization method for multicriteria decision making: An application to reservoir flood control operation

This paper presents a fuzzy optimization method based on the concept of ideal and anti-ideal points to solve multi-criteria decision making problems under fuzzy environments. The quantitative criteria values of each alternative are represented by triangular fuzzy numbers, and its qualitative counterparts and the weight of each criterion are described by linguistic terms, which can also be expressed as triangular fuzzy numbers in the proposed method. With the definition of fuzzy ideal and anti-ideal weight distances, an objective function is constructed to derive the optimal evaluation for each alternative denoted by a fuzzy membership degree. The ranking of alternatives and the best one can be determined directly on the basis of the fuzzy membership degrees without a need to compare fuzzy numbers. The evaluation process is simple and easy to use in practice. A case study of reservoir flood control operation is given to demonstrate the proposed method's effectiveness. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.