Product Code: ICAL05_1104

Scientific and Technological Landscape of Laser Cladding: A Bibliometric Analysis of Patents and Publications
Authors:
Jean Archambeault, Aluminium Technology Centre, National Research Council Canada; Saguenay Quebec Canada
Laurent Dubourg, Aluminium Technology Centre, National Research Council Canada; Saguenay Quebec Canada
Presented at ICALEO 2005

In the last 20 years, public and private organizations involvement in laser cladding R&D activities is increasing. Worldwide, these activities are mainly conducted in universities, public research institutes and technical centres in private companies. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the patents and scientific publications in the laser cladding field for the period 1985-2005, in order to identify the activity and trends in the laser cladding environment, for strategic purposes. All laser cladding processes used for coating, repairing and 3D fabrication and all the substrates (steel, aluminium and super alloys) were taken into account. At first, the world patent production was analysed in terms of volume (580 patent families found since 1985), frequency and applications. Then the same strategy was applied to the scientific publications for a total volume of 1900 papers. Using bibliometric techniques, an analysis and mapping of the information was performed to highlight the R&D activities in terms of temporal, geographical and institutional aspects. A classification of the patented applications was also conducted for the identification of opportunities. This study shows the evolution of the scientific and technological environment of laser cladding technology and can help public or private organizations to generate new ideas, gain awareness of emerging trends and validate the relevance of projects.