Automatic electropolishing of cobalt chromium dental cast alloys with a fuzzy logic controller

Cavities and ageing leads to a higher demand for robust and durable dentures. Cobalt chromium dental cast alloys fulfil these requirements. After the casting, the alloys have to be thoroughly cleaned in an electrochemical dissolution bath. In the existing technology an expert has to control the polishing process. In this paper we present a fuzzy logic controller with 16 fuzzy rules, which completely automatize the polishing process of cobalt chromium cast alloys. The user has to only put the untreated cast alloys in the polishing machine and press the start button. Our experiments have shown that the treated dentures have a consistent, very high quality during the service life of the electrolyte. Furthermore, the exchange point of the electrolyte is also automatically determined. The proposed strategy can be extended to other polishing processes with different cast alloys or electrolyte concentrations.