SNA-based multi-criteria evaluation of multiple construction equipment: A case study of loaders selection

Selecting the proper construction equipment is a challenging task owing to a wide range of available types as well as a host of criteria to be considered during decision making. To deal with this, a heterogeneous group decision-making framework to evaluate multiple purchasing choices of construction equipment is proposed with two data forms, i.e., 2-dimension uncertain linguistic variables (2DULVs) and real numbers. Firstly, a novel way to derive weights of experts by social network analysis (SNA) is applied considering trust degrees among experts in a social trust network. Secondly, after evaluation index system is established, 2DULVs that include both the linguistic evaluations on alternatives and decision makers’ appraisals on the given evaluation results are applied to represent subjective fuzzy evaluation information, while real numbers are used to represent quantitative values. Thirdly, 2-dimension uncertain linguistic power generalized weighted aggregation (2DULPGWA) operator is applied to aggregate evaluation values among experts. Fourthly, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy method are utilized to derive combined weights of sub-criteria before the rank can be obtained by the evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) method. Finally, a case study to evaluate multiple choices of loaders is proposed and a comparative analysis is conducted to prove the effectiveness of the proposed framework. This study provides a meaningful guidance for the optimal selection among various types of construction equipment.