Additive manufacturing towards product production: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Additively manufactured products offer extensive variety to consumers than many forms of production. Additive manufacturing (AM) production system allows consumer involvement, which has created a huge but largely untapped market. However, there is a gap between production and the market. Therefore, AM towards product production which focuses on the Commercialization of Additive Manufactured Products (CAMPs) is imperative. Despite the importance of CAMP, specific focus of research on the commercialization of additively manufactured products are scanty. There is also a lack of knowledge about the conceptual structure, intellectual structure, research trends, and the thematic structure of CAMP research. To contribute to this stream of research, this study takes an exploratory dimension by conducting a bibliometric analysis of publications on the CAMP. The R package and its associated biblioshiny were the software used. The study reveals that studies on CAMP started in 2007 with renewed interest starting from 2012. Importantly, it was found that the most cited articles focused on the economic potential of AM products in the home and specific industries. Also, there is an increasing focus on the business models that are necessary for the commercialisation of AM products. Generally, there is a shift in focus from the firm to the market. However, this is a niche area and requires more attention. Themes such as commercialization are just emerging, and researchers need to devote more time and effort to the consumer side of the commercialization of AM products.

Scientometric Review for Research Patterns on Additive Manufacturing of Lattice Structures

“…The research indicators are key in identifying the significance of any research area. The influence of authorship, co-authorship, regions by countries, affiliations (or institutions), publication sources, and keywords are some of the aspects that are taken into account in the formulation of the scientometric investigation or similar bibliometric reviews [ 88 , 89 , 90 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 ]. Some mapping was conducted on the publication data retrieved using VoS Viewer [ 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 ], using standard methods of bibliometric mapping [ 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 ].…”

“…A consensus-based debate on the results of the scientometric review study led to the classification structure of research subjects in these two areas. It was reported that Nalimov and Mulchenko coined the word “Scientometrics” for the first time in 1969 as an evaluation of science [ 88 , 89 , 94 , 95 ]. From the second half of the 19th century to the present, scientometrics has been a growing field of study.…”

“…In the past century, scientometrics research has progressed from the unconscious to consciousness, from qualitative to quantitative research, and from outward description to a thorough examination of the fundamental characteristics of scientific production. Recent research has shown the effectiveness of scientometrics in a variety of fields, including additive manufacturing [ 38 , 39 , 40 ], data analysis [ 94 , 95 ], built environment [ 96 , 97 , 128 , 129 ], research impact [ 131 ], sustainability [ 132 , 133 ], energy [ 134 ], project management [ 135 ], construction [ 136 , 137 ], water supply [ 138 , 139 ], medical applications [ 99 , 100 , 101 , 140 , 141 ], visualisation of data [ 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 ], and author collaborations [ 142 , 143 , 144 ]. Modern scientometric analysis enables researchers to access scientific contributions, map knowledge structures, to access scientific advancement, and identify emerging patterns within a certain study subject from these literature studies.…”

Additive manufacturing in South Africa: critical success factors

“…Other benefits include low-volume production and the facilitation of personalized and customized products, in addition to low-cost production and less dependence on expensive and dedicated tooling [ 25 , 26 ]. Responsive production, shorter supply chains, democratization of production, reduction of the environmental impact due to less waste production as well as increased preparedness for the digital revolution are other advantages of additive manufacturing [ 27 ]. Due to the versatility of the AM technology to produce customized 3D structures, it is one of the advanced manufacturing technology which is currently used to provide medical devices to fight the covid-19 pandemic [ 28 , 29 ].…”

In situ alloying of Ti10Mo fused tracks and layers via laser powder bed fusion

“…Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is gradually attaining maturity and being used to produce end-user products [6,[20][21][22]. The technology could be used to produce biomedical objects monolithically with tailored geometrical configurations as opposed to the conventional methods [23,24].…”