Multi-criteria Decision Making in Turning Operations Using AHP, TOPSIS and WASPAS Methods

In machining shops, it is very important to be as productive as possible while achieving the required surface roughness values depicted in technical drawings. Adding to this the ever-growing importance of limiting the pollution of the environment, energy consumption has also become very important in industry. However, different cutting parameters influence these factors differently, so it is very hard to know which combination of parameters to use in each machining process. This paper focuses on the implementation of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods to evaluate the combined influence of cutting parameters in turning processes depending on different importance ranking (weights) of criteria. The cutting parameters used in the study are cutting speed (Vc), cutting depth (ap) and feed rate (fn). Combining each of the parameters, multiple alternatives are achieved, with each alternative having a different influence on energy consumption (EC), surface roughness (SR) and productivity (MRR - material removal rate). As in machining industry most often EC and SR need to be at a minimum and MRR at a maximum, these are the criteria in presented multi-criteria decision-making problem: minimum EC, minimum SR and maximum MRR. For solving this problem, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used for determining the objective and constant weights of the criteria. TOPSIS and WASPAS methods were implemented for recommendations of the best alternative depending on previously determined weights of criteria.