Influence of shooting angle of polishing particle on surface roughness of a cobalt-chromium alloy using a centrifugal shooting type polishing machine.

The centrifugal shooting type polishing machine is a recently developed apparatus that seeks to improve the efficiency and environment of polishing removable prostheses. In an attempt to optimize the effectiveness of this apparatus, this study examined the influence of the shooting angle of polishing particle on the surface roughness of cobalt-chromium alloy casting specimens. Polishing was performed for three minutes under five shooting angle conditions: 90 degrees, 60 degrees, 45 degrees, 30 degrees, and 15 degrees. Surface roughness (Ra, Sm) was measured after each polishing stage. There were significant differences (p < 0.01) in Ra between shooting angle of 90 degrees (0.95 microm) and shooting angles of 45 degrees (0.62 microm) or less, and in Sm between 90 degrees (207 microm), 60 degrees (350 microm), and shooting angles of 45 degrees (868 microm) or less. These findings indicated that excellent surface texture was produced when shooting angle was 45 degrees or less.