The Digital Twin (DT) concept is gaining increasing attention with the rapid growth of cyber-physical systems and smart manufacturing. DT comprises the digital reflection, replica or identity of physical systems, objects or assets, which, for example, can be used for industrial health monitoring or process optimization and tracking. This study provides an overview of the intellectual discourses of DT research. The 23,419 references of 647 publications on the topic of DT are empirically analyzed using bibliometric methods to identify underlying connections and research streams. Using explorative factor analysis, seven strands of research are objectively identified. These comprise i) DT as paradigm for the virtual representation of real systems, ii) DT for manufacturing processes and human-robot collaboration, iii) cyber-physical systems for coordination between physical and computational elements, iv) Industry 4.0 for the automation of manufacturing and industrial practice, v) relationship extraction and matching in a social manufacturing context, vi) advances in computing and communication technologies and vii) optimization of geometrical variation in spot welding sequences. An objective overview of the DT discourse, its underlying themes and high-impact publications is presented.
The Digital Twin (DT) concept is gaining increasing attention with the rapid growth of cyber-physical systems and smart manufacturing. DT comprises the digital reflection, replica or identity of physical systems, objects or assets, which, for example, can be used for industrial health monitoring or process optimization and tracking. This study provides an overview of the intellectual discourses of DT research. The 23,419 references of 647 publications on the topic of DT are empirically analyzed using bibliometric methods to identify underlying connections and research streams. Using explorative factor analysis, seven strands of research are objectively identified. These comprise i) DT as paradigm for the virtual representation of real systems, ii) DT for manufacturing processes and human-robot collaboration, iii) cyber-physical systems for coordination between physical and computational elements, iv) Industry 4.0 for the automation of manufacturing and industrial practice, v) relationship extraction and matching in a social manufacturing context, vi) advances in computing and communication technologies and vii) optimization of geometrical variation in spot welding sequences. An objective overview of the DT discourse, its underlying themes and high-impact publications is presented.