A review of emerging trends in Laves phase research: Bibliometric analysis and visualization

Abstract The rapid development of modern aerospace and energy industries requires increasingly high service performance of metallic materials. Laves phase intermetallic compounds with the chemical formula AB 2 -type have attracted much attention due to their high melting point, excellent high-temperature strength, and oxidation resistance, and are regarded as one of the promising candidates for a new generation of high-temperature structural applications. Although it can be identified that Laves phase alloy research has been an active research field in the last 20 years in terms of the trend of literature volume growth, there is still a lack of systematic descriptions and comprehensive overviews of the latest frontiers and hotspots in the field. In this article, a quantitative and visual knowledge mapping of the articles published in the field of Laves phase research in the last 20 years has been carried out based on the bibliometric analysis methodology of Cite Space software. Quantitative analysis of high-frequency keywords to understand the basic development of Laves phase and the evolution of the main research hotspots in each period of time identified the hotspots of common concern seven themes: Laves phase, electronic structure, precipitation, Inconel 718 alloy, phase diagram, high-entropy alloys, and TiAl-based alloys. The analysis of the emergent keywords shows that electronic structure, high-entropy alloys, total energy calculations, and laser cladding can represent the research frontiers of Laves phases. This study provides systematic and valuable reference information to gain insight into the current state of Laves phase research and the evolution of the theme, which will be useful for further research.