Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields
Digital Twins have emerged as a powerful in silico method for the design, operation, and maintenance of real-world assets across various domains. This review paper investigates different aspects of Digital Twins, especially their application throughout the product lifecycle and across diverse engine...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Intelligent Systems with Applications |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667305325000420 |
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| _version_ | 1850150285870104576 |
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| author | Kamran Iranshahi Joshua Brun Tim Arnold Thomas Sergi Ulf Christian Müller |
| author_facet | Kamran Iranshahi Joshua Brun Tim Arnold Thomas Sergi Ulf Christian Müller |
| author_sort | Kamran Iranshahi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Digital Twins have emerged as a powerful in silico method for the design, operation, and maintenance of real-world assets across various domains. This review paper investigates different aspects of Digital Twins, especially their application throughout the product lifecycle and across diverse engineering domains. It provides a comprehensive overview of different services that Digital Twins can deliver at each stage of the product lifecycle in collaboration with other digital technologies (e.g., Internet of Things, etc.) using a data chain (digital thread). The review begins with an introduction to Digital Twins, highlighting their fundamental principles and significance in engineering. It then explores various domains to provide cross-domain insights into the use of Digital Twins. These domains include manufacturing, healthcare and medicine, agriculture and food supply chain, aerospace, construction and building management, automotive and transportation. Each domain-specific section explores recent advancements, showcasing innovative approaches and how Digital Twins improve decision-making, while also addressing their current challenges. Furthermore, each section peers into the future, presenting a forward-looking perspective on the challenges and evolving landscape of Digital Twins in that specific engineering sector. Finally, it provides a panoramic view of the current status of Digital Twins in engineering fields, based on evaluations by a panel of experts. The expert panel assessed the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of Digital Twins at 4.8 on a scale from 1 to 9. They identified the integration of Digital Twins with the digital thread as the most significant current challenge. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4fdb3a4c8ec843049bbcde5ca7c6a0bd |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2667-3053 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Intelligent Systems with Applications |
| spelling | doaj-art-4fdb3a4c8ec843049bbcde5ca7c6a0bd2025-08-20T02:26:36ZengElsevierIntelligent Systems with Applications2667-30532025-06-012620051610.1016/j.iswa.2025.200516Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fieldsKamran Iranshahi0Joshua Brun1Tim Arnold2Thomas Sergi3Ulf Christian Müller4MAN Energy Solutions Schweiz AG, Zurich, Switzerland; Corresponding authors.Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Technology, Technikumstrasse 21, Horw 6048, SwitzerlandLucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Technology, Technikumstrasse 21, Horw 6048, SwitzerlandLucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Technology, Technikumstrasse 21, Horw 6048, SwitzerlandLucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Technology, Technikumstrasse 21, Horw 6048, Switzerland; Corresponding authors.Digital Twins have emerged as a powerful in silico method for the design, operation, and maintenance of real-world assets across various domains. This review paper investigates different aspects of Digital Twins, especially their application throughout the product lifecycle and across diverse engineering domains. It provides a comprehensive overview of different services that Digital Twins can deliver at each stage of the product lifecycle in collaboration with other digital technologies (e.g., Internet of Things, etc.) using a data chain (digital thread). The review begins with an introduction to Digital Twins, highlighting their fundamental principles and significance in engineering. It then explores various domains to provide cross-domain insights into the use of Digital Twins. These domains include manufacturing, healthcare and medicine, agriculture and food supply chain, aerospace, construction and building management, automotive and transportation. Each domain-specific section explores recent advancements, showcasing innovative approaches and how Digital Twins improve decision-making, while also addressing their current challenges. Furthermore, each section peers into the future, presenting a forward-looking perspective on the challenges and evolving landscape of Digital Twins in that specific engineering sector. Finally, it provides a panoramic view of the current status of Digital Twins in engineering fields, based on evaluations by a panel of experts. The expert panel assessed the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of Digital Twins at 4.8 on a scale from 1 to 9. They identified the integration of Digital Twins with the digital thread as the most significant current challenge.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667305325000420Physics-based simulationDigital shadowIndustry 5.0Cyber-physical systemsDigital transformation |
| spellingShingle | Kamran Iranshahi Joshua Brun Tim Arnold Thomas Sergi Ulf Christian Müller Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields Intelligent Systems with Applications Physics-based simulation Digital shadow Industry 5.0 Cyber-physical systems Digital transformation |
| title | Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields |
| title_full | Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields |
| title_fullStr | Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields |
| title_short | Digital twins: Recent advances and future directions in engineering fields |
| title_sort | digital twins recent advances and future directions in engineering fields |
| topic | Physics-based simulation Digital shadow Industry 5.0 Cyber-physical systems Digital transformation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667305325000420 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kamraniranshahi digitaltwinsrecentadvancesandfuturedirectionsinengineeringfields AT joshuabrun digitaltwinsrecentadvancesandfuturedirectionsinengineeringfields AT timarnold digitaltwinsrecentadvancesandfuturedirectionsinengineeringfields AT thomassergi digitaltwinsrecentadvancesandfuturedirectionsinengineeringfields AT ulfchristianmuller digitaltwinsrecentadvancesandfuturedirectionsinengineeringfields |