Multi-criteria Decision Analysis for Supporting the Selection of Engineering Materials in Product Design

It is a constant challenge for designers, even when educated in the fundamentals of materials and mechanical engineering, to make optimal selections of materials to satisfy complex design problems, when faced with the vast range of materials available. Current approaches to materials selection range from the use of intuition and experience to more formalized methods. The latter is available in computer-based form, and includes electronic databases with search engines to facilitate the materials selection process. Recently, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods have begun to be applied to materials selection, demonstrating significant capability for tackling complex design problems. This book describes the growing field of MCDM as applied to materials selection. It is intended for academic teaching and research as well as for practitioners involved in materials engineering and design.