FORMWORK

Introduction

• A mould or open box-like container into which

wet concrete is poured and compacted
• Necessary for in situ reinforced concrete
construction
• Supporting structure holding forms in place is
called falsework
• Temporary structure to be removed once
concrete it contains has formed (hardened)
• Could also be permanent

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In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Lumber

Plywood sheet

In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Form Components

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In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Ground level

In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Base form

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 In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Concreting
of base

In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Stump form

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 In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Concreting of
stump

In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Ground
beam form

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In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Concreting of
ground beam

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In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Column form

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 In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Concreting
of column

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In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

Slab/beam formwork

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In-situ Reinforced Concrete Process

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 Basic requirements of
formwork
• Quality
• Safety
• Economy

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Quality

• Accuracy
– Produce accurate shape, size and
alignment of structure
– Designer should specify allowable
dimensional tolerance

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 Quality

• Rigidity
– Resist any distortion during
concreting therefore formwork should
be supported, tied, braced

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Quality

• Watertight joints
– loss of water, cement and fines affect
final strength of concrete
– affect appearance, honeycombs,
uneven colour
– Less rectification costs

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 Quality
• Good surface finish
– formwork surface in contact with
concrete should be even
– no screws, nails
– To achieve good surface application
apply mould oils called release agents

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Safety

• Withstand load of wet concrete,

operatives and equipments
• An unsafe formwork create insecure
working conditions thus resulting in
inefficiency of workers and reduce
output

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 Safety

• Provide adequate foundations – place

mudsills under all shoring
• Check surrounding excavations to
ensure that formwork does not fail
due to embankment failure
• Provide adequate bracings

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Safety

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Safety

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Safety

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 Economy

• Of three elements in concrete structures –

concrete, reinforcement, formwork
– Formwork generally the most expensive
– Formwork – high % of labour

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Economy

Formwork: Labour and

Concrete: Labour and equip (39%) material
equip (8%):material (10%)
(24%) 49%
32%

Reinforcemet: Labour
and equip (7%):material
(12%)
19%

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 Economy

• Factors influencing cost

– Material
– Labour
– Time

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Economy
Factors to achieve economy
• Standardisation
• Simplification
– Less labour
– Less time
• Reusability

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 Economy

• Standardisation (Designing stage)

– Identical bay spacing
– Standardise column and beam sizes

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Economy

• Simplification
– Easy installation and removal of
formwork and all joints and supports
therefore less labour and time
– Easy handling size therefore less
labour

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 Economy

• Reusability
– Durable material
– Design for ease of striking without
damage therefore a greater number
of times of uses

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Types of Formwork
Categorised by material
• Timber
• Metal eg. steel and aluminium
• Plastic (PVC) and GRP (glass reinforced
plastics)
• Laminated paper products (cardboards)
• Fiber cement materials moulded to shape
• Pre-cast concrete units used as permanent
formwork
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 Timber Formwork

• Most common material

– plywood and boards
• Versatile
• Readily available

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Timber Formwork

• Advantage
– Custom manufactured in large panel
sizes
– Curved for special shapes
– Reuse many times

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 Timber Formwork

• Disadvantage
– Liable to damage at corners and
edges
– Wear out quicker
– Greater chance of leakage for boards
– Variability of absorbency

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Plywood
• Varies in thickness from 12 to 20 mm
• Common sheet sizes – 2400×1200 mm,
1800×900 mm
• Produce smooth concrete surface
• Coated in each face with phenolic resin film
or has a face layer of resin impregnated
paper
• Does not absorb water from wet concrete

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 Timber Formwork
Timber boards

• Sawn timber boards – thickness 25 to 65 mm,

widths 70 to 250 mm

• Commonly used as edge boarding for

concrete cast on ground, road pavement,
kerbs foothpaths, fllor slabs and footing
beams

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Metal Formwork
• Mainly proprietary system, consists of stiff
metal sheets and edges, mechanically
handled and self climbing formwork
• Use where high stresses occur
• Steel sections as a frame for plywood
sheeting
• Steel plate may be used to replace plywood
sheeting for repeated number of uses
• Panels are made in a range of sizes and
shapes for the convenience of other
combinations 40

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 Metal Formwork
Advantage:
• Stiff and durable thus advantageous for reuse
• Closer tolerance
• Aluminium- for light weight construction

Disadvantage:
• Chemical reaction with fresh concrete which
may cause adverse effect to concrete
properties
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Timber Formwork
• Requirements
• Well-seasoned
• Not liable to warp when exposed to sun and
rain
• Stiff enough to resist deflection and
distortion- all panels supported on strong
frame
• Face in contact with concrete should be
smooth (wrought)

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 Plastic – GRP
• Advantages:
• Rigid or flexible
• GRP although expensive, very light,
high impact resistance
• Good resistance to scour and corrosion
• High quality face finishes
• Less expensive for forms of special
profiles
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Types of Formwork

Categorised by shape
• Column formwork
• Beam formwork
• Floor slab formwork
• Wall formwork

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Column Form

Bracing

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Column Form

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Beam and Slab Form

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One-way Slab Form

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Forms for Elevated Slab

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Mudsills

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 Staircase Form

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Typical Wall Form

Double wales used and ties
inserted in between

Bracing to prevent form

movement

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 Formwork Ties
Function of ties
To allign the two faces of formwork lining

Classified into 2 categories:

• Non-recoverable ties – section remain
embedded in the concrete eg. snap ties, mild
steel ties, coil ties

• Recoverable ties – the entire system can be

reused eg.through ties,taper ties, anchor ties53

Formwork Ties

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 Formwork Systems

• A special formwork constructed as a

system
• System is usually proprietary
• Usually made of metal
• Need machinery for handling

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Formwork Systems

• Selecting forming systems is critical

because it affects
– speed of construction
– building cost
• Some prefabricated forming systems
can improve construction efficiency by
saving time and money

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Column Formwork System

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Column Formwork System

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 Selection of Types of
Formworks
Factors to be considered
• Cost of construction (materials and labour)
• Easy installation and removal
• Reusability
• Safety
• Requirements of decorative finishes
• Availability of materials, instruments (lifting)
and labour
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General Safety Measures

• Used only materials approved (specifications/no
defect).
• Form - strong, properly supported (shores, braces).
• Pre-casting inspection - to checked strength and
stability of forms.
• Install perimeter barriers (no visitors/vehicles).
• Inside surfaces of forms - oiled to ease strippings.
• No other unnecessary materials or equipment.
• Safety precautions signboards must be installed.

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 General Safety Measures
• Control the rate and location of concrete
placement so that design loads are not
exceeded
• Ensure that forms and shoring are not
removed before concrete has developed the
required strength
• When placing prefabricated form sections in
windy weather careful of swinging forms
which may cause injury

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Design of Formwork

• Usually design of elements constructed

of wood or plywood
– Walls
– Columns
– Slabs forms

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 Design of Formwork

Design principles
• Adequate strength to resist failure
1. Bending
2. Shear
• Will not deflect excessively when
forms are filled
3. Deflection

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Design of Formwork
• Procedure:
– Establish design loads
– Each component analysed as a beam
– Determine max. bending and shear
stresses and max. deflection
– Then vertical supports and lateral bracing
are analysed for compression and tension
loads

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 Basis Of Design

• Structural Requirements
– BS 5975 :1982 – Falsework
– BS 8110 :1985 – Structural use of
concrete
– BS 5950 :1990 – Structural Steelwork
– MS544 :1978 – Malaysian Standard for
the structural use of
timbers
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Formwork Striking Time

Striking (removal) of formwork depend on:

• Concrete strength
• Type of concrete – RHC or OPC,
admixture
• Type of structural member
• Air temperature around the member

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 Formwork Striking Time
Structural member formwork Minimum striking time
Surface temperature of
concrete
16°C 7°C 2°C
Formwork to columns, beam 9 hours 12 hours 1 day
sides and walls
Formwork to slabs – props left 4 days 7 days 11 days
in position
Formwork to beam soffits – 8 days 14 days 21 days
props left in position
Props to slabs 11 days 14 days 21 days
Props to beam soffits 15 days 21 days 30 days
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Methods of Assessing Formwork

Striking Time
Method Advantages Disadvantages
1. Cubes cured 1. Samples concrete 1. Conservative with large
alongside supplied or well insulated
2. Good for thin slabs sections
or walls cast in steel 2. Requires cubes to be
formwork made and tested
2. Tables 1. Simple to apply but 1. Assume concrete as
must take into specified
account the grade 2. Can be conservative as
of concrete they assume the
concrete just achieve its
grade and has the
lower bound strength
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 Methods of assessing formwork striking
time (cont.)
Method Advantages Disadvantages
3. Measuring 1. Can also be 1. Assumes concrete is as specified
maturity with used to 2. Need to establish and agree
thermocouples measure relationship
temperature 3. Frequent temperature readings
gradient across are required unless automatic
a section logging system is used
4. Measuring 1. Relatively 1. Assumes concrete is as specified
maturity with simple to use 2. Need to establish and agree
meter or 2. Maturity can be strength/maturity relationship
COMA-probe read as many
times as
necessary
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Methods of assessing formwork

striking time (cont.)
Method Advantages Disadvantages
4. 1. Directly test 1. Need to establish and agree
Penetration structure strength/penetration relationship
tests eg 2. rapid 2. Wide scatter at low strength
windsor 3. Damage surface
probe

5. Break off 1. Directly test 1. Need to make good

test structure 2. Scatter of results
3. Need to establish and agree
strength/break off relationship

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The first floor circular columns were constructed using steel column forms. The steel column form should be
oiled before concreting.
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After concreting to the first floor columns, the steel column forms were dismantled easily.
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 The second and the third floor construction continues.
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When the building construction reached the third floor, both safety net and scaffolding were employed to
prevent falling objects and also to prevent the workers falling from such a high working place.
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 The steel props were erected to support the upper floors temporarily. The props would not
be removed until the reinforced concrete floor slab gained sufficient strength.
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Causes of Formwork Failure

• Formwork failures are the cause of many accidents and
failures that occur during concrete construction which
usually happen when fresh concrete is being placed.
• Generally some unexpected event causes one member to
fail, then others become overloaded or misaligned and the
entire formwork structure collapses.

Formwork collapse
causes injuries, loss
of life, property
damage, and
construction delays

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 Causes of Formwork Failure
• The main causes of formwork failure are:
1 - Improper stripping and shore removal
2 - Inadequate bracing
3 - Vibration
4 - Unstable soil under mudsills
5- Inadequate control of concrete
placement
6 - Lack of attention to formwork details.
*Mudsill: A plank, frame, or small footing on the ground used as a base
for a shore or post in formwork.

Causes of Failure
Improper Stripping and Shore Removal
 Premature stripping of forms, premature removal of
shores, and careless practices in reshoring can
produce catastrophic results.
Case study:
Too early shore removal at Bailey's
Crossroads in Virginia (1972):
26-stories + apartment building
Forms were supported by floors 7-
days old or older
Failure occurred on the 24th floor,
where it was shored to the 5-day-old
23rd floor.
The overloaded 23rd floor failed in
shear around one or more columns,
triggering a collapse that carried
through the entire height of the
building.
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Causes of Failure
Inadequate Bracing
The more frequent causes of formwork failure,
however, are other effects that induce lateral force
components or induce displacement of supporting
members.
 Inadequate cross bracing and horizontal bracing of
shores is one of the factors most frequently involved
in formwork accidents.
 Investigations prove that many accidents causing
thousands of dollars of damage could have been
prevented only if a few hundred dollars had been
spent on diagonal bracing for the formwork support.

Causes of Failure
Inadequate Bracing Use of Diagonal Bracing
 High shoring with heavy load at the top is
vulnerable to eccentric or lateral loading.

 Diagonal bracing improves the stability of such a

structure, as do guys or struts to solid ground or
competed structures.
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Causes of Failure
Inadequate Bracing
 The main exhibition floor of the New York Coliseum
collapsed when concrete was being placed.
 Forms for the floor slab were supported on two tiers
of shores.

Case study:
New York Coliseum
Formwork collapse,
where rapid
delivery of
concrete
introduced lateral
forces at the top of
high shoring.

Causes of Failure
Inadequate Bracing Use of Diagonal Bracing
Case study: New York Coliseum
 Increased diagonal bracing was added to all
remaining shoring, following partial collapse of
formwork.

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 Causes of Failure
Inadequate Bracing Use of Diagonal Bracing
 When a failure occurs at one part, inadequate
bracing may permit the collapse to extend to a
large portion of the structure and multiply the
damage.
 Suppose a worker accidentally rams or
wheelbarrow into some vertical shores and
dislodges a couple of them. This may set up a
chain of reaction that brings down the entire
floor.
 One major objective of bracing is to prevent
such a minor accident or failure from becoming
a disaster.

Causes of Failure
Vibration
 Forms sometimes collapse when their
supporting shores or jacks are displaced by
vibration caused by:
 passing traffic

 movement of workers and equipment on the

formwork
 the effect of vibrating concrete to
consolidate it.
 Diagonal bracing can help prevent failure due
to vibration.

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 Causes of Failure
Unstable Soil under Mudsills, Shoring not Plumb
 Formwork should be safe if it is adequately braced
and constructed so all loads are carried to solid
ground through vertical members.
 Shores must be set plumb and the ground must be
able to carry the load without settling.
 Shores and mudsills must not rest on frozen ground;
moisture and heat from the concreting operations, or
changing air temperatures, may thaw the soil and
allow settlement that overloads or shifts the
formwork.
 Site drainage must be adequate to prevent a
washout of soil supporting the mudsills.

Causes of Failure
Inadequate Control of Concrete Placement
 The temperature and rate of vertical placement of
concrete are factors influencing the development of
lateral pressures that act on the forms.
 If temperature drops during construction operations,
rate of concreting often has to be slowed down to
prevent a build up of lateral pressure overloading the
forms. If this is not done, formwork failure may
result.
 Failure to regulate properly the rate Fresh
and order of placing concrete on Concrete

horizontal surfaces or curved roofs H
may produce unbalanced loadings
and consequent failures of
formwork.
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 Causes of Failure
Lack of Attention to Formwork Details
• Even when the basic formwork design is soundly conceived,
small differences in assembly details may cause local
weakness or overstress loading to form failure.
• This may be as simple as insufficient nailing, or failure to
tighten the locking devices on metal shoring.
• Other details that may cause failure are:
– Inadequate provisions to prevent rotation of beam forms
where slabs frame into them on the side.
– Inadequate anchorage against uplift for sloping form
faces.
– Lack of bracing or tying of corners, bulkheads, or other
places where unequal pressure is found.

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