A hybrid generalized TODIM based risk prioritization method for failure mode and effect analysis with linguistic Z-numbers

The traditional failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), as an effective risk analysis technique, has several limitations in the uncertainty modeling and the weights determination of the risk indicators. This paper aims to propose a hybrid risk prioritization method simultaneously considering the characteristics of the reliability associated with the FMEA team members' evaluation information and their psychological behavior to enhance the performance of the traditional FMEA model. The hybrid risk prioritization method is developed based on the generalized TODIM method and the weighted entropy measure with the linguistic Z-numbers (LZNs). First, the LZNs are adopted to depict the FMEA team members' cognition information and the reliability of these information. Second, a weighted entropy measure based on the fuzzy entropy and the LZNs is developed to obtain the risk indicators' weights. Finally, the generalized TODIM method with the LZNs is constructed to obtain the risk priority orders of failure modes, which can effectively simulate the FMEA team members' psychological character. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed risk prioritization method is validated through an illustrative example of an integrated steel plant. The results of sensitivity analysis and comparative analysis indicate that the proposed hybrid risk prioritization method is effective and valid, and can get more accurate and practical risk ranking results to help enterprises formulate accurate risk prevention and control plans.