title = "Shakeout, Fettling, and Casting Cleaning"

content = """
After solidification, castings must be separated from the mold, cleaned of adhering sand and scale,
and have excess metal (gates, risers, parting line flash) removed before inspection and further
processing. These operations — shakeout, fettling, and cleaning — are physically demanding, inherently
dusty, and require strict application of appropriate PPE.

Shakeout:
Shakeout is the process of breaking the sand mold away from the solidified casting. The flask and
mold are transported to the shakeout station, where a vibrating grate or rotary barrel shakes the
mold apart and separates the sand from the casting. Hot castings at shakeout can reach temperatures
of 300–700°C depending on the time elapsed since pouring. Operators must use heat-resistant gloves
and face shields.

The shakeout area is one of the highest dust-generating operations in the foundry. Enclosed shakeout
stations with high-capacity local exhaust ventilation connected to the baghouse filtration system
are required. Respiratory protection (minimum P100 half-face respirator) is mandatory in the active
shakeout zone.

Core Removal:
Sand cores are removed from internal passages by vibration, high-pressure water jets, or mechanical
rod tools. For complex internal passages in investment castings, core removal may require chemical
leaching in a caustic solution that dissolves the ceramic core material.

Gate and Riser Removal (Fettling):
Gates, runners, and risers are removed from the casting using:
- Cutoff wheels (angle grinders): For smaller non-ferrous castings
- Band saws: For aluminum and softer alloy gates
- Air chisel and pneumatic chipping hammers: For iron and steel, where gate connections are thick
- Torch cutting: For heavy steel gates where size makes mechanical cutting impractical

The connection point between the gate/riser and the casting must be ground flush with the casting
surface per the part drawing. Over-grinding damages the casting wall; under-grinding leaves protrusions
that cause dimensional non-conformance.

Cleaning and Blast Finishing:
After fettling, castings are shot blasted in a wheel-blast or airblast cabinet to remove residual
sand, scale, and surface oxide. Shot type and size are specified per the alloy and required surface
finish. Post-blast, castings are inspected visually for surface defects before being released to
dimensional inspection.
"""

version = "0.0.1"
