Sustainable construction materials: a bibliometric analysis of research on bauxite residues utilization in artificial aggregate production

Abstract The significant increase in aggregate demand drives the development of sustainable alternatives from waste materials to address environmental concerns and construction material availability. The complexity of artificial aggregates and advancements in construction materials necessitates a systematic mapping of scientific developments, exploration of state of the art, and projection of research trends to avoid research replication and repetition, optimizing the allocation of research resources. Bibliometric analysis emerges as one of the effective methods to map the evolution of research in this field, revealing the intellectual structure and collaboration networks within the scientific community. This study aims to map and analyze the development of artificial aggregate research, particularly the utilization of bauxite residue, through bibliometric analysis. The research examined Scopus-indexed documents over the past two decades using bibliometric methods. Analysis results revealed rapid development in artificial aggregate research, with a significant increase in publications and diversification of topics. However, studies on utilizing bauxite residue as artificial aggregate remain limited, comprising only about 5% of artificial aggregate research data collected. This finding underscores the need for further research into bauxite waste utilization because of its substantial development potential research. Thematic mapping indicated the dominance of construction materials and sustainability, reflecting a paradigm shift towards environmentally friendly construction practices. Geographical analysis revealed artificial aggregates research globally distributed, encompassing 64 countries, with a significant concentration in China and India. International research collaboration is crucial for driving innovation in sustainable construction, particularly utilizing bauxite waste as artificial aggregates.