Study of additive manufacturing techniques to obtain tactile graphics

Abstract

Tactile graphics (TG) are intended to facilitate communication for people with total or partial visual impairment. For this purpose, TG include elements in relief that can be perceived through the sense of touch. TG can be fixed or portable. Fixed TG are expensive, as they are typically produced in very short runs, mostly single part production. Portable TG can be made by thermoforming polymer sheets, but a mould is still required, even though production runs are short (some tens). For this reason, the use of Rapid Manufacturing (RM) and Rapid Tooling (RT) strategies to manufacture TG can be of great interest. In this work, a literature review to study the application of Additive Manufacturing (AM) to obtain TG, both as RM and RT, is carried out. The review reveals the suitability of AM techniques to manufacture TG. In addition, some AM techniques are analysed to be used for a new type of TG, which is based on the deposition of glaze on ceramic tiles.