An Integrated IVHFS and DEMATEL-ANP Framework for Competitive Intelligence Evaluation in Smart Factories

Steel partition walls are essential components in modern civil engineering, providing both structural support and spatial separation. These walls are frequently exposed to combined thermal and mechanical loads, particularly in specialized environments such as high-temperature workshops or fire scenarios, where their thermo-mechanical coupling behavior is critical to building safety and functionality. This study integrates the direct finite element squared (Direct FE2) method with generalized polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) to quantify the uncertainties in key material propertiesnamely, the elastic modulus and the coefficient of thermal expansionand to evaluate their effects on the thermo-mechanical performance of steel partition walls. The proposed approach enables efficient simulation of material uncertainties and their influence on structural behavior under coupled thermal-mechanical conditions. Case studies demonstrate both the accuracy and computational efficiency of the method, while sensitivity analysis highlights the most influential uncertainty factors. The integration of Direct FE2and PCE thus offers a robust framework for assessing the reliability of steel partition walls under uncertain conditions, providing valuable insights for design optimization and enhancing the safety and efficiency of building structures in practical applications.OPEN ACCESS Received: 05/07/2025 Accepted: 17/09/2025 Published: 23/01/2026