While there has been a recent growth of interest in the Digital Twin, a variety of definitions employed across industry and academia remain. There is a need to consolidate research such to maintain a common understanding of the topic and ensure future research efforts are to be based on solid foundations. Through a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis of 92 Digital Twin publications from the last ten years, this paper provides a characterisation of the Digital Twin, identification of gaps in knowledge, and required areas of future research. In characterising the Digital Twin, the state of the concept, key terminology, and associated processes are identified, discussed, and consolidated to produce 13 characteristics (Physical Entity/Twin; Virtual Entity/Twin; Physical Environment; Virtual Environment; State; Realisation; Metrology; Twinning; Twinning Rate; Physical-to-Virtual Connection/Twinning; Virtual-to-Physical Connection/Twinning; Physical Processes; and Virtual Processes) and a complete framework of the Digital Twin and its process of operation. Following this characterisation, seven knowledge gaps and topics for future research focus are identified: Perceived Benefits; Digital Twin across the Product Life-Cycle; Use-Cases; Technical Implementations; Levels of Fidelity; Data Ownership; and Integration between Virtual Entities; each of which are required to realise the Digital Twin.

https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/229965388/Characterising_The_Digital_Twin.pdf

Characterising the Digital Twin: A systematic literature review

Review of digital twin about concepts, technologies, and industrial applications

Review of digital twin applications in manufacturing

Metal additive manufacturing in the commercial aviation industry: A review

Digital twin (DT) is an emerging concept that is gaining attention in various industries It refers to the ability to clone a physical object (PO) into a software counterpart The softwarized object, termed logical object, reflects all the important properties and characteristics of the original object within a specific application context To fully determine the expected properties of the DT, this article surveys the state-of-the-art starting from the original definition within the manufacturing industry It takes into account related proposals emerging in other fields, namely augmented and virtual reality (eg, avatars), multiagent systems, and virtualization This survey thereby allows for the identification of an extensive set of DT features that point to the “softwarization” of POs To properly consolidate a shared DT definition, a set of foundational properties is identified and proposed as a common ground outlining the essential characteristics (must-haves) of a DT Once the DT definition has been consolidated, its technical and business value is discussed in terms of applicability and opportunities Four application scenarios illustrate how the DT concept can be used and how some industries are applying it The scenarios also lead to a generic DT architectural model This analysis is then complemented by the identification of software architecture models and guidelines in order to present a general functional framework for the DT This article, eventually, analyses a set of possible evolution paths for the DT considering its possible usage as a major enabler for the softwarization process

/pdf/digital-twin-in-the-iot-context-a-survey-on-technical-4dp6h32olt.pdf

Digital Twin in the IoT Context: A Survey on Technical Features, Scenarios, and Architectural Models

Exploring the role of Digital Twin for Asset Lifecycle Management

https://research.aalto.fi/files/27835681/The_perceived_value_of_additively_manufactured_digital_spare_parts_in.pdf

The perceived value of additively manufactured digital spare parts in industry: An empirical investigation

Purpose – Spare parts management plays a relevant role for equipment-intensive companies. An important step of such process is the spare parts classification, enabling properly managing different items by taking into account their peculiarities. The purpose of this paper is to review the state of the art of classification of spare parts for manufacturing equipment by presenting an extensive literature analysis followed by an industrial assessment, with the final aim to identify eventual discrepancies. Design/methodology/approach – Not only is the attention put on the literature about the subject, but also on an on-field analysis, that is presented comprehending an extensive survey and two in-depth exploratory case studies. The copper mining sector was chosen being representative for the case of capital intensive plants where the cost of maintenance has relevant weight on the total operating cost. Findings – The paper highlights the status of the scientific literature on spare parts classification by showi...

/pdf/a-review-of-multi-criteria-classification-of-spare-parts-1m4j0yi681.pdf

A review of multi-criteria classification of spare parts : From literature analysis to industrial evidences

This paper proposes a methodology to build a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model aimed to support decision-making for manufacturing asset lifecycle management. Existing challenges for TCO adoption ...

/pdf/building-a-total-cost-of-ownership-model-to-support-s2hg4rjhv9.pdf

Building a Total Cost of Ownership model to support manufacturing asset lifecycle management

In the last years, the selection of the most suitable simulation software to correctly face industrial problems has become vital for companies. The choice should be made among several possi...

/pdf/framework-for-simulation-software-selection-51c1wk23uk.pdf

Irene Roda

Papers

Exploring the role of Digital Twin for Asset Lifecycle Management

The perceived value of additively manufactured digital spare parts in industry: An empirical investigation

A review of multi-criteria classification of spare parts : From literature analysis to industrial evidences

Building a Total Cost of Ownership model to support manufacturing asset lifecycle management

Framework for simulation software selection