Thermal Foundation is the basic subject of thermodynamics and heat transfer,which involves the basic concepts of thermodynamics,heat balance,thermodynamic cycle,basic theory of heat transfer and so on.Thermal Foundation is also a core course in thermal engineering,which is of great significance for industrial production and energy utilization.In order to understand the research hotspots and development trends of basic thermal engineering disciplines,177 papers published in Peking University Chinese core journals and CSSCI journals included in China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI)were used as samples.With the help of bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace,the visualization analysis,hotspot analysis and frontier analysis of basic thermal engineering disciplines were carried out.Finally,the relevant research results are summarized,and some suggestions are put forward for the future development of this field.