A bibliometric analysis of cold spray coating process using VOSviewer

Abstract

Cold spray coating is an Additive Manufacturing technology that is accustomed to amend surfaces of the substrate and improves many benefits in material engineering applications. This is a high-velocity solid state spray technique that uses temperatures sufficiently below the melting point of the products to preserve their chemical and physical properties. A thorough examination of 387 documents found in the Scopus database from 1999 to 2022 was carried out. In this study, we analyzed cold spray research and its evolution using a bibliometric approach and scientometric evaluation using the free tool VOSviewer to create bibliometric maps. These maps help in understanding the overall development, research trends, and major gaps identified in the literature. We identified prolific authors, their work, contribution and collaboration in the field of cold spray research, important publishing sources, and keyword assessment based on co-occurrence using density visualization maps that help in understanding research gaps. Despite several successful experiments, cold spray on brittle materials has received little attention, because of its high specific strength, fatigue resistance, biocompatibility and corrosion resistance, the cold spray has potential applications in aircraft parts, medical implant materials and protective coatings highlighting the need for research in this area.