Failure mode and effects analysis using Dempster-Shafer theory and D numbers methodology

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is effectively dependent on the members of the committee which examines product failures, and it is limited by their experience of previous failures or general knowledge of failure mechanisms and modes. Hence, a large number of approaches have been proposed in the literature to enhance the FMEA methodology. D numbers can be easily applied to many research fields such as decision making and information fusion. In this paper, Dempster-Shafer theory (D-S theory) and D numbers methodology are applied to solve risk priority problem in FMEA. An numerical example is illustrated and results show the efficiency of the proposed method.