Bibliometrics of finite element simulation in Latin America and its application in mechanical engineering (2000–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37431/conectividad.v7i2.448Keywords:
Numerical simulation, FEA, CFD, Mechanical engineering, Scientific productionAbstract
This study presents a bibliometric analysis of articles indexed in Scopus on the use of FEM/FEA and CFD in mechanical engineering (2000–2025). A total of 1,869 articles were retrieved (query: 10/31/2025) and, based on their metadata, indicators of productivity, source concentration (Bradford's Law), scientific collaboration, and conceptual structure were estimated using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer. In addition, a subset with at least one institutional affiliation in Latin American countries (n=44) was identified to characterize the regional contribution. The global corpus shows growth until 2013 (annual peak=217) and a subsequent decline, stabilizing at low levels (2025 is a partial year). Latin American production is concentrated in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, with mostly extra-regional collaboration. Thematic mapping shows a core in solid mechanics/thermo-structural mechanics and emerging lines in biomechanics and engineering education. Text mining suggests a predominance of commercial suites (e.g., ANSYS and ABAQUS) in the global corpus and scarce explicit reporting in the regional subset, pointing to underreporting in metadata.
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