A Scopus analyzer is utilized to perform this assessment to identify the most relevant research areas. Figure 4 shows that Engineering, Materials Science, and Environmental Science are the three leading disciplines in the generation of documents, having almost 41%, 27%, and 6% of documents, respectively. As a whole, these three disciplines contribute 74% of papers. Moreover, the analysis on the Scopus database is also made to assess the publication types having subject research area documents (Figure 5). This assessment revealed that there are almost 56% of journal papers, around 29% of conference articles, 8% of conference reviews, and nearly 4% of journal reviews. The annual trend of published articles in the considered research area from 2011 to December 2022 is illustrated in Figure 6. Until 2014, a slight rise was observed in mineral fiber-reinforced concrete research publications. Following that, the publication trend was reduced to less than 40 articles in a year for two years, i.e., 2015 and 2016. The number of publications was enhanced considerably from 2016 to 2018. Again, from 2019–2020, the publications were slightly comprised, followed by a significant increase afterward. In the current year, the number of articles on the considered study field is more than 100 so far (as of December 2022). It is interesting to note that the attention of researchers is focused on using mineral fibers in concrete to have sustainable construction materials.

The sources of the publication are assessed by employing the VOSviewer on the bibliographic data. A minimum of ten papers from one source is specified, and 11 out of the 912 sources met the requirement. The publication sources have at least ten publications on mineral fibers in concrete research up to December 2022, and the received number of citations is enlisted in Table 1. The top three publication sources are “Construction and building materials”, “Advanced materials research”, and “Materials today: proceedings”, having 62, 29, and 25 papers, respectively, and 2,158, 1,120, and 793 citations up to December 2022, respectively. Exceptionally, via this assessment, a foundation is attained for upcoming scientometric analysis on mineral fibers in concrete research. Furthermore, the recent typical review-based research was incapable of providing systematic graphs. The visualization of publication sources having a minimum of ten articles is depicted in Figure 7. The frame size in Figure 7A shows the influence of the source on the current study research field as per document count, which means that the bigger the frame size, the more significant the impact. For example, the frame size for “Construction and building materials” is more than the others, depicting the significance of this journal in the considered research area. The formation of five groups is made, and a unique color represents each one on the map (red, yellow, green, purple, and blue). Group development is done based on publication source-extent or the co-citation frequency with comparable publications (Wuni et al., 2019). VOSviewer establishes the groups as per the co-citation tendencies in research publications. Seven journals in the red cluster are frequently co-cited in the same research. Furthermore, the link among closely placed publication sources in a particular group is more when compared to widely spread frames, for example, “Cement and concrete composites” majorly correlates with “Journal of cleaner production” than with “Procedia engineering” or “Construction and building materials”. As evident from Figure 7B, several tints correspond to different journal-density concentrations. Red color has the highest concentration. Blue, green, and yellow colors are afterward. “Construction and building materials” depict a red shade indicating its higher involvement in the mineral fiber-reinforced concrete research.

In research, keywords are important as the main subject of the research study domain is emphasized and distinguished by them (Song et al., 2021). The keyword recurrence requirement is set to at least 15. In this way, 20 keywords are preserved, as enlisted in Table 2. Mechanical properties, fiber-reinforced concrete, natural fibers, minerals, and basalt fiber are the five most widely occurring keywords in the considered research field. The keyword analysis revealed that mineral fibers in concrete have mainly been explored to have an alternative sustainable construction material. Depending upon the co-occurrences, density, and connections related to their frequency of occurrence, a graph is presented in Figure 8. The frame size of a keyword in Figure 8A indicates its frequency, where the position of the frame represents the co-occurrence. Moreover, the top keywords show larger frames than the rest, indicating that these are important keywords to investigate the reinforced concrete research of the mineral fibers. The clustering is also done to represent the co-occurrences of keywords in various published articles, as seen from the graph. Different colors are assigned to each group to represent keyword recurrences. In Figure 8A, the diverse shades of the five clusters are shown. The density concentrations for different keywords are also represented by unique colors, as shown in Figure 8B. The shades yellow, red, blue, and green show their densities. Mechanical properties, mineral fibers, sustainability, concrete construction, and other significant keywords show red or yellow tints representing more occurrences of density. This outcome would assist determined scientists in selecting keywords, reducing the effort to discover published articles on a definite topic.

The impact of a certain paper in a specific research area is depicted by its citations. Articles with higher citations pioneer in a particular research area. The scientific visualization of citations based on inter-connected publications and concentration of published papers in considered research areas, i.e., mineral fibers in concrete, is presented in Figure 9. Figure 9A represents the interlinked publications via citations, evaluated using VOSviewer analysis. The size of the frame for a particular document is directly proportional to the impact of that specific article in the considered research domain, i.e., mineral fibers in concrete. Moreover, in Figure 9B, the density mapping reveals the enhanced density concentration of the leading articles as per citations.

Several countries have produced articles in the considered domain, and these countries aim to keep contributing. A systematic plot is developed for bibliophiles to assess the countries enthusiastic about researching mineral fibers in concrete to predict their properties. For this analysis, the criteria of minimum articles per nation are set as 10, and 21 countries have met this requirement, as listed in Table 3. Among all the countries, India, China, and the Russian Federation have contributed the maximum articles having 166, 138, and 48 articles, respectively. Moreover, China received 1,754 citations, followed by Italy and the United States with 1,031 and 834 citations, respectively. The systemic map and density concentrations for citation-based linked countries are presented in Figure 10. The impact of a specific country in terms of article quantity on the subject-research domain is depicted from the frame size of that particular country (Figure 10A). As shown in Figure 10B, the countries with the most publications have more density. The quantitative output and graphical representation of the contributing countries would help young researchers establish scientific associations, initiate joint ventures, and exchange inventive approaches and ideas. Researchers from countries concerned with establishing research on mineral fibers in concrete may work with experts in this domain to yield aid from their expertise.

The remarkable enhancement in concrete’s mechanical properties due to the incorporation of mineral fibers is mainly due to its capability of forming an even spatial net structure in concrete, improvement in internal stress redistribution and mode of damage, enhancement in concrete’s internal mechanical stability, and improvement in the microstructure (Gao et al., 2021). Hence, it is vital to develop linkages to damages at the macroscopic level by the fiber distribution response properties and pore structure to demonstrate its mechanical performance. Accordingly, a generalized summary regarding mineral fiber-reinforced microstructure is also discussed in this study. The incorporation of mineral fibers in manufacturing dispersed fiber-reinforced cementitious concrete is promising for multiple reasons. Basalt roving and thin-staple fiber are examples of mineral fibers, primarily formed by using the centrifugal-spinneret technique and categorized by even characteristics, diameter uniformity, and lesser waste content. The mineral fibers are attained using an electro-thermal process to melt raw materials (Buyantuev et al., 2012). The chemical resemblance of mineral fibers enables their interaction with Portland cement. The typical chemical composition and physical appearance of basalt fibers are shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12, respectively, as reported by Liu H. et al. (2022). But, this feature might badly affect the mineral fibers and decrease the reinforcing effect. Saraikina et al. (2012) reported various methods for resolving this issue and summarized the primary ways for the protection of mineral fibers from the alkaline-medium effects of cement: 1) utilization of cement-less binders in concrete having fibers; 2) alteration in the surfaces of mineral fibers; 3) modification in the structure of mineral fibers; and 4) the incorporation of admixtures that decrease the alkalinity of fiber-reinforced concrete medium. Globally, the popularity of mineral fiber-reinforced concrete is gaining popularity in the research field with a possibility of coming out as one of the most sustainable construction materials. As incorporating mineral fibers in concrete is a comparatively new approach, it lacks in guidelines for design than typical concrete; therefore, more experimental studies are important to fill the research gaps in this field (Khan et al., 2022d; Kirthika and Singh, 2018; Yang et al., 2019; Gebremariam et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2018).

In case of mineral fiber-reinforced concrete, the durability is considered in the form of impermeability, wear resistance, freeze–thaw resistance, and chloride-corrosion resistance (Zheng et al., 2021b). It has been observed that concrete has considerable susceptibility toward plastic cracking during the processes of setting and hardening (Huang Y. et al., 2022), that would adversely impact the respective project’s long-term durability due to cement species, additives, water–cement ratio, aggregate grading, and the construction environment (Xiaomei et al., 2019). Khan et al., 2018 evaluated the durability of mineral-based basalt fiber-reinforced concrete after its exposure to different accelerated environmental conditions. The weight loss, water absorption, and compressive strength of basalt fiber-reinforced concrete were determined experimentally after undergoing ageing conditions, i.e., immersion in sulphate and acidic solutions, for 90 days after 28 days of curing. The incorporation of basalt fibers resulted in improved concrete properties, i.e., water absorption and compressive strength, even after exposure to sulfate and acidic attacks. Zhang Z. et al. (2021) reported that the addition of CeO₂ may also resist crack formation. Furthermore, the utilization of curing with moisture retaining (i.e., (e.g., steam curing or film curing) (Wei and Pengcheng, 2020), expansion agents like additives (Guoxin et al., 2018), or the incorporation of an adequate content of fibers may effectively reduce or may even resist the early plastic cracks-occurrence in concrete (Shi et al., 2022). There would be as lesser chances for occurrence of plastic-cracking in concrete as earlier as the conservation of moisture starts (Li et al., 2004). In case of more aspect ratio of fiber, the volume fraction would be higher and, subsequently, the adhesion strength at the fiber–matrix interface would be more (Sheng et al., 2021), which would enhance the repressive strength to resist plastic-cracking in concrete and ultimately improve the durability performance of the respective concrete (Jia et al., 2021). In case of durability of conventional concrete, steel fiber-reinforced concrete, and polymer fiber-reinforced concrete, the research has already been the subject of multiple reports (Zhang P. et al., 2021); however, in case of durability of mineral fiber-reinforced concrete, the research is still relatively small.

The SEM analysis is very important to explore the microstructure of concrete having mineral fibers. Li Y. et al. (2020) examined the mineral-derived basalt fiber-reinforced concrete by using SEM (Figure 13). Instead of fiber slippage, a cement paste coating was observed on the fiber surface, depicting an effective bonding among the mineral fiber and cement slurry (Figure 13). The cementitious material stuck on the fibers indicates its proper bonding, ultimately resulting in fiber fracture, as shown in Figure 14. It may be noted that crack propagation/expansion is limited due to proper bridging and bonding of embedded mineral-derived basalt fiber in the cementitious matrix. So, it can be said, based on the findings mentioned previously, that mineral fibers have considerably enhanced the concrete mechanical properties and thus, it can offer a stable structure in terms of load-bearing in concrete and resist the initiation and propagation of micro-cracks. Furthermore, adding mineral fibers in concrete can increase the pore and capillary contents, improve pore connectivity, and prevent the deterioration of the concrete-pore structure.

Nowadays, sustainable development is in demand. Global warming resulting from swift ozone layer depletion due to bad environmental impacts is a severe problem. Ecological disintegration is due to the extreme consumption of fossil fuels and natural resources. So, leading toward sustainable development, the contributing factors toward ozone layer depletion must be eliminated as per the sustainable development goals. Waste mineral fibers are one of the major contributors. Furthermore, the increasing demand for fossil fuel and natural resources to meet the construction industries’ requirement has also accumulated toward ecological degradation. Therefore, incorporating such mineral fibers in concrete can significantly play its role in achieving UNDP’s sustainable development goals (Figure 15). This incorporation would not only contribute toward a reduction in the overall cost of the respective concrete, but it would also decline the conventional material consumption, ultimately leading to a reduction of natural resource consumption. In addition, the environmental pollution caused by CO₂ emissions from these waste fibers (such as mineral fibers) may also be decreased significantly. Hence, green, sustainable, and economic development can be achieved by utilizing mineral fibers as reinforcement in cementitious concrete.