FUZZY CASH FLOW ANALYSIS USING PRESENT WORTH CRITERION

ABSTRACT In practice, engineering economic analysis involves uncertainty about future cash flows. To deal quantitatively with imprecision or uncertainty, fuzzy set theory is primarily concerned with vagueness in human thoughts and perceptions. As an alternative to conventional cash flow models where cash flows are defined as either crisp numbers or risky probability distributions, we propose an engineering economic decision model in which the uncertain cash flows and discount rates are specified as triangular fuzzy numbers. The present worth formulation of this fuzzy cash flow model is derived. The result of the present worth is also a fuzzy number with nonlinear membership function. The present worth can be approximated by a triangular fuzzy number. Deviation between exact present worth and its approximate form is examined. Finally, the fuzzy project selection is performed by applying different dominance rules. To demonstrate the application of the fuzzy present worth function, a comprehensive numerical ...