Assessing technological developments in amorphous/glassy metallic alloys using patent indicators

Alloys with an amorphous structure represent a class of advanced metallic materials which have great potential for industrial applications and technological innovations as a consequence of their interesting chemical, mechanical and magnetic properties. Considerable effort has been devoted to investigating scientific issues concerning these alloys, but less attention has been paid to assessing the impact of this accumulated knowledge regarding the development of new materials, products and processes. In this study, we evaluated the technological developments in metallic glass using patent indicators. Patent documents are a valuable source of information as they reflect R&D activities and market issues. Data and text mining processing were carried out in order to extract useful indicators from bibliographic records of patent documents indexed in the worldwide Derwent Innovations Index database. The results evaluated the technological advances and showed the life-cycle stage of developments and the interests of companies, research institutions and countries. This study mapped the main alloys and manufacturing processes that have been patented. Amorphous metallic alloys have become ever increasingly important for technological developments regarding metallic alloys in general, and the indicators developed in this study can be used as a source to support decision making in funding new projects and in R&D management.