Polymeric Materials Selection for Flexible Pulsating Heat Pipe Manufacturing Using a Comparative Hybrid MCDM Approach

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Thermal Engineering

Background:

• Selecting appropriate polymeric materials is crucial for fabricating flexible fluidic systems and heat transfer devices like pulsating heat pipes.
• Numerous polymeric materials exist, each with distinct properties, applications, advantages, and disadvantages, complicating the selection process.
• A systematic approach is needed to evaluate and rank these materials for specific applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a comparative hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model for evaluating polymeric materials for flexible pulsating heat pipes.
• To identify the most suitable polymeric material for the fabrication of these devices.
• To support industrial managers and researchers in optimizing material selection procedures.

Main Methods:

• Development of a hybrid MCDM model incorporating fourteen evaluation criteria and twelve alternative polymeric materials.
• Application of three distinct hybrid MCDM techniques: Analytic Hierarchy Process-Grey Relational Analysis (AHP-GRA), AHP-C ombinative Distance-based A pproximation (AHP-CoCoSo), and AHP-V alse-K orse-l ike O ptimization (AHP-VIKOR).
• Validation of results using Spearman's rank correlation analysis to ensure consistency among the applied methods.

Main Results:

• Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Polyethylene (PE), and Polypropylene (PP) emerged as the most promising materials based on the evaluation criteria.
• The hybrid MCDM methods consistently ranked the alternative materials, indicating robust and reliable outcomes.
• PTFE was identified as the optimal material for manufacturing flexible pulsating heat pipes, followed by PE and PP as viable alternatives.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully demonstrates the efficacy of hybrid MCDM techniques in ranking polymeric material choices for flexible pulsating heat pipes.
• PTFE is the recommended material for fabrication, offering superior performance characteristics.
• The proposed MCDM framework provides a valuable tool for enhancing the material selection process in engineering applications.
• The findings will aid industrial decision-making and academic research in materials science and thermal engineering.