A bibliometric indicators analysis of additive manufacturing research trends from 2010 to 2020

Abstract

Purpose Although many researchers have widely studied additive manufacturing (AM) as one of the most important industrial revolutions, few have presented a bibliometric analysis of the published studies in this area. This paper aims to evaluate AM research trends based on 4607 publications most cited from year 2010 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology is bibliometric indicators and network analysis, including analysis based on keywords, citation analysis, productive journal, related published papers and authors indicators. Two free available software were employed VOSviewer and Bibexcel. Findings Keywords analysis results indicate that among the AM processes, Selective Laser Melting and Fused Deposition Modeling techniques, are the two processes ranked on top of the techniques employed and studied with 35.76% and 20.09% respectively. The citation analysis by VOSviewer software, reveals that the medical applications field and the fabrication of metal parts are the areas that interest researchers greatly. Different new research niches, as pharmaceutical industry, digital construction and food fabrication are growing topics in AM scientific works. This study reveals that journals “Materials & design”, “Advanced materials”, “Acs applied materials & interfaces”, “Additive manufacturing”, “Advanced functional materials” and “Biofabrication” are the most productive and influential in AM scientific research. Originality/value The results and conclusions of this work can be used as indicators of trends in AM research and/or as prospects for future studies in this area.