Digital twins in civil engineering

A plenitude of digital twin reviews have been published in recent years, most of which, however, focus on project-specific digital twin implementations or specific application areas within civil engineering. The architecture, including the composition of internal elements, and schemas of digital twins have not been studied yet in a universally applicable and systematic manner. In this study, a multivocal review of digital twins in civil engineering is conducted, combining a systematic literature review and a gray literature review to capture both peer-reviewed literature and industry practices. To achieve a shared understanding of digital twins in civil engineering, a systematic survey of definitions, schemas, system architectures, and internal elements of digital twins is conducted. Drawing from the results of the review, (i) a definition, (ii) a pattern for a schema, and (iii) a reference architecture for digital twins are proposed, serving as a blueprint for facilitating digital twin implementations in civil engineering.