Failure Mode and Effects Analysis Using Two-Dimensional Uncertain Linguistic Variables and Alternative Queuing Method

This study develops an improved failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method using two-dimensional uncertain linguistic variables (2DULVs) and alternative queuing method (AQM). The 2DULVs are employed to represent the evaluations provided by FMEA team members on the weights of risk factors and the risk of failure modes in the form of pairwise comparisons. The two-dimensional uncertain linguistic best worst method (2DUL-BWM) is used to derive the weights of risk factors. The two-dimensional uncertain linguistic AQM (2DUL-AQM) is proposed for determining the risk ranking of the identified failure modes. Finally, the maintenance of a water treatment plant is presented as an example to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed FMEA method. By comparing its performance with those of other existing methods, the proposed FMEA is shown to be more advantageous in ranking the risk of failure modes.