Direct texturing for additive manufacturing: software support and build tests

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of adding macro-textures to triangle meshes for additive manufacturing (AM) focusing on possible time and quality issues in both software processing and part fabrication. Design/methodology/approach: A demonstrative software tool was developed to apply user-selected textures to existing meshes. The computational procedure is a three-dimensional extension of the solid texturing method used in computer graphics. The tool was tested for speed and quality of results, considering also the pre- and post-processing operations required. Some textured meshes were printed by different processes to test build speed and quality. Findings: The tool can handle models with realistic complexity in acceptable computation times. Parts are built without difficulties or extra-costs achieving a good aesthetic yield of the texture. Research limitations/implications: The tool cannot reproduce sample patterns but requires the development of a generation algorithm for different type of textures. Mesh processing operations may take a long time when very fine textures are added to large parts. Practical implications: Direct texturing can help obtain parts with aesthetic or functional textures without the need for surface post-treatments, which can be especially difficult and expensive for plastic parts. Originality/value: The proposed method improves the uniformity and consistency of textures compared to existing approaches, and can support future systematic studies on the detail resolution of AM processes.