Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Methods in Additive Manufacturing: The State of the Art

Multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) refers to making preference decisions via assessing a finite number of pre-specified alternatives under multiple and usually conflicting attributes. Many problems in the field of additive manufacturing (AM) are essentially MADM problems or can be converted into MADM problems. Recently, a variety of MADM methods have been applied to solve MADM problems in AM. This generates a series of interesting questions: What is the general trend of this research topic from the perspective of published articles every year? Which journals published the most articles on the research topic? Which articles on the research topic are the most cited? What MADM methods have been applied to the field of AM? What are the main strengths and weaknesses of each MADM method used? Which MADM method is the most used one in this field? What specific problems in AM have been tackled via using MADM methods? What are the main issues in existing MADM methods for AM that need to be addressed in future studies? To approach these questions, a review of MADM methods in AM is presented in this paper. Firstly, an overview of existing MADM methods in AM was carried out based on the perspective of specific MADM methods. A statistical analysis of these methods is then made from the aspects of published journal articles, applied specific methods, and solved AM problems. After that, the main issues in the application of MADM methods to AM are discussed. Finally, the research findings of this review are summarised.