Fuzzy sets and type 2 under algebraic product and algebraic sum

The concept of fuzzy sets of type 2 has been proposed by L.A. Zadeh as an extension of ordinary fuzzy sets. A fuzzy set of type 2 can be defined by a fuzzy membership function, the grade (or fuzzy grade) of which is taken to be a fuzzy set in the unit interval 0, 1] rather than a point in 0, 1].This paper investigates the algebraic properties of fuzzy grades (that is, fuzzy sets of type 2) under the operations of algebraic product and algebraic sum which can be defined by using the concept of the extension principle and shows that fuzzy grades under these operations do not form such algebraic structures as a lattice and a semiring. Moreover, the properties of fuzzy grades are also discussed in the case where algebraic product and algebraic sum are combined with the well-known operations of join and meet for fuzzy grades and it is shown that normal convex fuzzy grades form a lattice ordered semigroup under join, meet and algebraic product.