Sustainable Construction Material Selection Based on Novel Integrated CRIterion Free-Fall Time–SPHERicity of Alternative Decision-Making Model

As the civil industry, and especially the concrete industry, constantly advance and modernize, the usage of sustainable construction materials is becoming increasingly important. These materials represent one of the most significant components in the concept of the sustainable development of every company and industry. Underground mining, as a part of mining industry, largely applies sustainable materials to perform some of its technological operations. The optimal selection of sustainable construction materials is one of the key tasks for underground mining engineers. This paper proposes a novel integrated CRIFFT-SPHERA decision-making model for choosing the most suitable concrete mixture for supporting and backfilling activities in an underground mine. A total of ten concrete mixtures forms a set of alternatives which are evaluated with respect to four criteria. To validate the proposed MCDM model, an extensive numerical calculation procedure as well as comparative analysis are conducted through a hypothetical example. The obtained results confirm the extremely high degree of stability and reliability of the developed model. Also, the results are checked using sensitivity analysis based on changes in the values of the weight coefficients. In addition, the effectiveness of the developed model is verified through real-world problems where its application for solving these problems in various industries is accepted. This paper provides valuable insights for engineers dealing with problem of the construction of different concrete forms and structures, especially in underground areas, with fly ash as an element belonging to a group of sustainable construction materials.