Digital Twin and AI Models for Infrastructure Resilience: A Systematic Knowledge Mapping
Open Access
- 14 December 2025
- journal article
- review article
- Published by MDPI AG in Applied Sciences
- Vol. 15 (24) , 13135
Abstract
As global infrastructure systems face increasing environmental, social, and operational challenges, enhancing their resilience through digital and intelligent technologies has become a strategic priority. Digital Twin (DT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies offer transformative capabilities for monitoring, predicting, and optimizing infrastructure performance under stress. However, research on their integration within resilience frameworks remains fragmented. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to clarify how DT and AI are being applied to strengthen infrastructure resilience (IR). Using data exclusively from the Web of Science (WoS) database, co-occurrence and overlay visualizations were employed to map thematic structures, identify research clusters, and track emerging trends. The analysis revealed six interconnected research domains linking DT, AI, and resilience, including artificial intelligence and industrial applications, digital twins and machine learning, cyber–physical systems, smart cities and sustainability, data-driven resilience modeling, and methodological frameworks. Overlay mapping revealed a temporal shift from early work on sensors and cyber–physical systems toward integrated, sustainability-oriented applications, including predictive maintenance, urban digital twins, and environmental resilience. The findings underscore the need for adaptive and interoperable DT ecosystems incorporating AI-driven analytics, ethical data governance, and sustainability metrics, providing a unified foundation for advancing resilient and intelligent infrastructure systems.Keywords
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