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A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Computer".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2018) | Viewed by 64395

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Prof. Dr. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas

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Research Institute of Sustainable Construction, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: operations research; optimization and decision analysis; multicriteria decision making; multiattribute decision making (MADM); decision support systems; civil engineering; energy; sustainable development; fuzzy sets theory; fuzzy multicriteria decision making; sustainability; management; game theory and economical computing knowledge management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Romualdas Bausys

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Department of Graphical Systems, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: computational mathematics; image analysis; multicriteria decision making: algorithms and applications

Prof. Dr. Jurgita Antuchevičienė

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Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM); multiattribute decision making (MADM); operations research; decision support systems; multiple-criteria optimization in construction technology and management; decision making under uncertainty; fuzzy sets theory; civil engineering; sustainable development; sustainable construction; investments; knowledge management
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The topic of utmost importance in civil engineering is optimal solutions throughout the life cycle of the buildings, roads, bridges and other infrastructure objects. Operational research, management science, optimization methods provide a consistent and applicable groundwork for engineering decision making. Traditionally, decision makers need to take into account not a single criterion, but several different criteria, therefore multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches are usually applied. MCDM methods cover two branches: multi objective decision making (MODM) techniques and multi attribute decision making (MADM) approaches. Articles are welcome on this issue, where solutions in civil engineering that bring economic, social and environmental benefits are offered through a variety of methodologies and tools (e.g., information technologies, optimization methods, operational research and management science, multi-criteria decision-making methods).

Prof. Dr. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas
Prof. Dr. Romualdas Bausys
Prof. Dr. Jurgita Antuchevičienė
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Design in civil engineering
Buildings, materials and structures
Infrastructure objects
Roads and bridges
Maintenance technologies
Operational research and management science
Information technologies
Optimization methods
Multiple criteria decision making

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Editorial

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6 pages, 611 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Civil Engineering and Symmetry

by Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Romualdas Bausys and Jurgita Antucheviciene

Symmetry 2019, 11(4), 501; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym11040501 - 05 Apr 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3603

Abstract

A topic of utmost importance in civil engineering is finding optimal solutions throughout the life cycle of buildings and infrastructural objects, including their design, manufacturing, use, and maintenance. Operational research, management science, and optimisation methods provide a consistent and applicable groundwork for engineering decision-making. These topics have received the interest of researchers, and, after a rigorous peer-review process, eight papers have been published in the current special issue. The articles in this issue demonstrate how solutions in civil engineering, which bring economic, social and environmental benefits, are obtained through a variety of methodologies and tools. Usually, decision-makers need to take into account not just a single criterion, but several different criteria and, therefore, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches have been suggested for application in five of the published papers; the rest of the papers apply other research methods. The methods and application case studies are shortly described further in the editorial. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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Research

Jump to: Editorial

16 pages, 38217 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Pre-Rationalized Parametric Designing of Roof Shells Formed by Repetitive Modules of Catalan Surfaces

by Jolanta Dzwierzynska and Aleksandra Prokopska

Symmetry 2018, 10(4), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym10040105 - 11 Apr 2018

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 8346

Abstract

The aim of the study is to develop an original, methodical, and practical approach to the early stages of parametric design of roof shells formed by repetitive modules of Catalan surfaces. It is presented on the example of designing the roof shells compound of four concrete elements. The designing process proposed by us consists in linking geometric shaping of roofs’ models with their structural analysis and optimization. Contrary to other methods, which use optimization process in order to find free roof forms, we apply it in order to explore and improve design alternatives. It is realized with the application of designing tools working in Rhinoceros 3D software. The flexible scripts elaborated by us, in order to achieve roofs’ models of regular and symmetrical shapes, are converted into simulation models to perform structural analysis. It is mainly focused on how the roof shells perform dependently on their geometric characteristics. The simulation enables one to evaluate various roof shells’ shapes, as well as to select an optimal design solution. The proposed approach to the conceptual design process may drive the designing to achieve geometric and structural forms which not only follow the design intentions but also target better results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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28 pages, 1717 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Hybrid MCDM Technique for Risk Management in Construction Projects

by Kajal Chatterjee, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Jolanta Tamošaitienė, Krishnendu Adhikary and Samarjit Kar

Symmetry 2018, 10(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym10020046 - 13 Feb 2018

Cited by 126 | Viewed by 12366

Abstract

Multi-stakeholder based construction projects are subject to potential risk factors due to dynamic business environment and stakeholders’ lack of knowledge. When solving project management tasks, it is necessary to quantify the main risk indicators of the projects. Managing these requires suitable risk mitigation strategies to evaluate and analyse their severity. The existence of information asymmetry also causes difficulties with achieving Pareto efficiency. Hence, to ensure balanced satisfaction of all participants, risk evaluation of these projects can be considered as an important part of the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process. In real-life problems, evaluation of project risks is often uncertain and even incomplete, and the prevailing methodologies fail to handle such situations. To address the problem, this paper extends the analytical network process (ANP) methodology in the D numbers domain to handle three types of ambiguous information’s, viz. complete, uncertain, and incomplete, and assesses the weight of risk criteria. The D numbers based approach overcomes the deficiencies of the exclusiveness hypothesis and completeness constraint of Dempster–Shafer (D–S) theory. Here, preference ratings of the decision matrix for each decision-maker are determined using a D numbers extended consistent fuzzy preference relation (D-CFPR). An extended multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method in D numbers is then developed to rank and select the best alternative risk response strategy. Finally, an illustrative example from construction sector is presented to check the feasibility of the proposed approach. For checking the reliability of alternative ranking, a comparative analysis is performed with different MCDM approaches in D numbers domain. Based on different criteria weights, a sensitivity analysis of obtained ranking of the hybrid D-ANP-MABAC model is performed to verify the robustness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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31 pages, 1993 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Approach for Evaluation of Projects Using an Interval–Valued Fuzzy Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) Method: A Case Study of Oil and Gas Well Drilling Projects

by Jalil Heidary Dahooie, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Mahdi Abolhasani, Amirsalar Vanaki and Zenonas Turskis

Symmetry 2018, 10(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym10020045 - 12 Feb 2018

Cited by 91 | Viewed by 6700

Abstract

The beginning of the 21st-century resulted in a more developed multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) tool and inspired new application areas that have resulted in discoveries in sustainable construction and building life cycle analysis. Construction and civil engineering stand for the central axis of a body consisting of a multidisciplinary (multi-dimensional) world with ties to disciplines constituting the surface, and with the disciplines, as a consequence, tied to each other. When dealing with multi-attribute decision-making problems generally multiple solutions exist, especially when there is a large number of attributes, and the concept of Pareto-optimality is inefficient. The symmetry and structural regularity are essential concepts in many natural and man-made objects and play a crucial role in the design, engineering, and development of the world. The complexity and risks inherent in projects along with different effective indicators for success and failure may contribute to the difficulties in performance evaluation. In such situations, increasing the importance of uncertainty is observed. This paper proposes a novel integrated tool to find a balance between sustainable development, environmental impact and human well-being, i. e. to find symmetry axe with respect to goals, risks, and constraints (attributes) to cope with the complicated problems. The concept of “optimal solution” as the maximum degree of implemented goals (attributes) is very important. The model is built using the most relevant variables cited in the reviewed project literature and integrates two methods: the Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) method and a novel interval-valued fuzzy extension of the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method. This model was used to solve real case study of oil and gas well drilling projects evaluation. Despite the importance of oil and gas well drilling projects, there is lack of literature that describes and evaluates performance in this field projects. On the other hand, no structured assessment methodology has been presented for these types of projects. Given the limited research on performance evaluation in oil & gas well-drilling projects, the research identifies a set of performance criteria and proposes an evaluation model using fuzzy Delphi method. An illustrative example shows that the proposed method is a useful and alternative decision-making method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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3627 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Model for Shovel Capital Cost Estimation, Using a Hybrid Model of Multivariate Regression and Neural Networks

by Abdolreza Yazdani-Chamzini, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Jurgita Antucheviciene and Romualdas Bausys

Symmetry 2017, 9(12), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym9120298 - 01 Dec 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4827

Abstract

Cost estimation is an essential issue in feasibility studies in civil engineering. Many different methods can be applied to modelling costs. These methods can be divided into several main groups: (1) artificial intelligence, (2) statistical methods, and (3) analytical methods. In this paper, the multivariate regression (MVR) method, which is one of the most popular linear models, and the artificial neural network (ANN) method, which is widely applied to solving different prediction problems with a high degree of accuracy, have been combined to provide a cost estimate model for a shovel machine. This hybrid methodology is proposed, taking the advantages of MVR and ANN models in linear and nonlinear modelling, respectively. In the proposed model, the unique advantages of the MVR model in linear modelling are used first to recognize the existing linear structure in data, and, then, the ANN for determining nonlinear patterns in preprocessed data is applied. The results with three indices indicate that the proposed model is efficient and capable of increasing the prediction accuracy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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3205 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tool-Wear Analysis Using Image Processing of the Tool Flank

by Ovidiu Gheorghe Moldovan, Simona Dzitac, Ioan Moga, Tiberiu Vesselenyi and Ioan Dzitac

Symmetry 2017, 9(12), 296; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym9120296 - 30 Nov 2017

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5461

Abstract

Flexibility of manufacturing systems is an essential factor in maintaining the competitiveness of industrial production. Flexibility can be defined in several ways and according to several factors, but in order to obtain adequate results in implementing a flexible manufacturing system able to compete on the market, a high level of autonomy (free of human intervention) of the manufacturing system must be achieved. There are many factors that can disturb the production process and reduce the autonomy of the system, because of the need of human intervention to overcome these disturbances. One of these factors is tool wear. The aim of this paper is to present an experimental study on the possibility to determine the state of tool wear in a flexible manufacturing cell environment, using image acquisition and processing methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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1697 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Novel Integrated Multi-Criteria Model for Supplier Selection: Case Study Construction Company

by Željko Stević, Dragan Pamučar, Marko Vasiljević, Gordan Stojić and Sanja Korica

Symmetry 2017, 9(11), 279; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym9110279 - 17 Nov 2017

Cited by 110 | Viewed by 8672

Abstract

Supply chain presents a very complex field involving a large number of participants. The aim of the complete supply chain is finding an optimum from the aspect of all participants, which is a rather complex task. In order to ensure optimum satisfaction for all participants, it is necessary that the beginning phase consists of correct evaluations and supplier selection. In this study, the supplier selection was performed in the construction company, on the basis of a new approach in the field of multi-criteria model. Weight coefficients were obtained by DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method, based on the rough numbers. Evaluation and the supplier selection were made on the basis of a new Rough EDAS (Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution) method, which presents one of the latest methods in this field. In order to determine the stability of the model and the applicability of the proposed Rough EDAS method, an extension of the COPRAS and MULTIMOORA method by rough numbers was also performed in this study, and the findings of the comparative analysis were presented. Besides the new approaches based on the extension by rough numbers, the results are also compared with the Rough MABAC (MultiAttributive Border Approximation area Comparison) and Rough MAIRCA (MultiAttributive Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis). In addition, in the sensitivity analysis, 18 different scenarios were formed, the ones in which criteria change their original values. At the end of the sensitivity analysis, SCC (Spearman Correlation Coefficient) of the obtained ranges was carried out, confirming the applicability of the proposed approaches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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2533 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Selection of Wagons for the Internal Transport of a Logistics Company: A Novel Approach Based on Rough BWM and Rough SAW Methods

by Željko Stević, Dragan Pamučar, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Goran Ćirović and Olegas Prentkovskis

Symmetry 2017, 9(11), 264; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym9110264 - 04 Nov 2017

Cited by 113 | Viewed by 7067

Abstract

The rationalization of logistics activities and processes is very important in the business and efficiency of every company. In this respect, transportation as a subsystem of logistics, whether internal or external, is potentially a huge area for achieving significant savings. In this paper, the emphasis is placed upon the internal transport logistics of a paper manufacturing company. It is necessary to rationalize the movement of vehicles in the company’s internal transport, that is, for the majority of the transport to be transferred to rail transport, because the company already has an industrial track installed in its premises. To do this, it is necessary to purchase at least two used wagons. The problem is formulated as a multi-criteria decision model with eight criteria and eight alternatives. The paper presents a new approach based on a combination of the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method and rough numbers, which is used for ranking the potential solutions and selecting the most suitable one. The rough Best–Worst Method (BWM) was used to determine the weight values of the criteria. The results obtained using a combination of these two methods in their rough form were verified by means of a sensitivity analysis consisting of a change in the weight criteria and comparison with the following methods in their conventional and rough forms: the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Ordering Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and MultiAttributive Border Approximation area Comparison (MABAC). The results show very high stability of the model and ranks that are the same or similar in different scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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4526 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Airplane Boarding/Deboarding Strategies: A Surrogate Experimental Test

by Shengjie Qiang, Bin Jia and Qingxia Huang

Symmetry 2017, 9(10), 222; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym9100222 - 11 Oct 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5917

Abstract

Optimally organizing passengers boarding/deboarding an airplane offers a potential way to reduce the airplane turn time. The main contribution of our work is that we evaluate seven boarding strategies and two structured deboarding strategies by using a surrogate experimental test. Instead of boarding a real or mocked airplane, we carried out the experiment by organizing 40 participants to board a school bus with ten rows of four seats, symmetrically distributed on a single, central aisle. Experimental results confirm that the optimized strategies, i.e., Steffen and Steffen-lug, are superior to the traditional ones, i.e., Back-to-front, Window-to-aisle, and Random in time-saving and stability. However, the two structured deboarding strategies failed to reduce the deboarding time, and this result strongly suggests the prerequisites of applying such strategies only when, on average, passengers have a large amount of luggage. Besides, we further carried out a questionnaire survey of participants’ preferences on seat layout and discussed how those preferences influence the boarding time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Civil Engineering and Symmetry)

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