Introduction to Formwork

Materials and Design

 Introduction
• Concrete formwork serves as a mold to produce
concrete elements having a desired size and
configuration.
• It is usually erected for this purpose and then
removed after the concrete has cured to a
satisfactory strength.
• For satisfactory performance, formwork must
be adequately strong and stiff to carry the loads
produced by the concrete
 Introduction
To produce concrete forms that meet all job
requirements, the construction engineer must
understand:
• the characteristics, properties, and behaviors of
the materials used;
• be able to estimate the loads applied to the
forms
• be familiar with the advantages and
shortcomings of various forming system
 Requirement for Good Formwork
• It should be strong enough to withstand all
types of dead and live loads.
• It should be rigidly constructed and efficiently
propped and braced both horizontally and
vertically, so as to retain its shape.
• The joints in the formwork should be tight
against leakage of cement grout.
• Construction of formwork should permit
removal of various parts in desired sequences
without damage to the concrete.
• The material of the formwork should be cheap,
easily available and should be suitable for reuse.
• The formwork should be set accurately to the
desired line and levels should have plane surface.
• It should be as light as possible.
• The material of the formwork should not warp or
get distorted when exposed to the elements.
• It should rest on firm base.
 Economy in Formwork

• The following points are to be kept in view to effect

economy in the cost of formwork:
• The plan of the building should imply minimum
number of variations in the size of rooms, floor area
etc. so as to permit reuse of the formwork repeatedly.
• Design should be perfect to use slender sections only
in a most economical way.
• Minimum sawing and cutting of wooden pieces should
be made to enable reuse of the material a number of
times. The quantity of surface finish depends on the
quality of the formw
 Materials for Formwork Construction
• Formwork can be made out of timber, plywood,
steel, precast concrete or fiberglass used separately
or in combination.
• Steel forms are used in situation where large
numbers of re-use of the same forms are
necessary.
• For small works, timber formwork proves useful.
Fibre glass made of precast concrete and
aluminium are used in cast-in-situ construction
such as slabs or members involving curved
surfaces.
 Category of Formwork
Two main category of Formwork are :

• Job Built Form

• Prefabricated or Commercial Form
 Job-built forms

• designed, built, and used with the particular

requirements of a single project in mind.
• They are most often constructed using plywood
sheathing and lumber framing.
• They may also incorporate proprietary hardware in
their assembly.
• Job-built forms are often the economical choice
when complicated forming is required that would
be difficult or more expensive if using commercial
form systems
 Prefabricated or commercial forms
• They are usually constructed with materials
that can be reused many times.
• Their higher initial cost is offset by the potential
for more reuse cycles than job-built forms of
lumber and plywood or possible cost savings
from increased productivity in erecting and
stripping the forms.
• Commercial concrete forms may be of standard
design or custom built for a particular
application
 Types of Formwork (Shuttering) for Concrete Construction

Timber Formwork:
Timber for formwork should satisfy the following
requirement:
It should be
• well seasoned
• light in weight
• easily workable with nails without splitting
• free from loose knots
• Timber used for shuttering for exposed concrete work
should have smooth and even surface on all faces which
come in contact with concrete.
Form work for staircase
Formwork for Beams and Slabs

Prof Awad S. Hanna

Concrete Formwork
 Normal sizes of members for timber formwork

Sheeting for slabs, beam,

column side and beam 25 mm to 40mm thick
bottom

Joints, ledges 50 x 70 mm to 50 x 150

mm

Posts 75 x 100mm to 100 x 100

mm
 Plywood Formwork

Resin bonded plywood sheets are attached to

timber frames to make up panels of required
sizes.
The cost of plywood formwork compares
favourably with that of timber shuttering and it
may even prove cheaper in certain cases in view
of the following considerations:
Images for Plywood Formwork
 Why Plywood is cost effective
• It is possible to have smooth finish in which
case cost in surface finishing is there.
• By use of large size panels it is possible to
effect saving in the labour cost of fixing and
dismantling.
• Number of reuses are more as compared with
timber shuttering. For estimation purpose,
number of reuses can be taken as 20 to 25.
 Advantages of Plywood
• It is economical in large panels.
• It is available in various thicknesses.
• It creates smooth, finished surfaces on
concrete.
• It has predictable strength.
• It is manufactured in more than 40 surface
textures that can provide various architectural
finis
 Steel Formwork

This consists of panels fabricated out of thin

steel plates stiffened along the edges by small
steel angles.
The panel units can be held together through
the use of suitable clamps or bolts and nuts.
Steel Formwork
 Steel forms compared with timber formwork

• Steel forms are stronger, durable and have longer life

than timber formwork and their reuses are more in
number.
• Steel forms can be installed and dismantled with greater
ease and speed.
• The quality of exposed concrete surface by using steel
forms is good and such surfaces need no further
treatment.
• Steel formwork does not absorb moisture from concrete.
• Steel formwork does not shrink or warp.
 Formwork Materials
• Wood
– Either all-wood or some wood components
• Plywood
• Aluminum
• Steel
• Plastics

Prof Awad S. Hanna

 Formwork Material
Plywood:
• This is by far the most common material used
for the facing panel. It is easily cut to shape on
site, and if handled and stored carefully, it can
be used many times.
 Timber
• This is the most common material used for
bracing members to the form face.
• Like plywood, it can be easily cut to size on
site. Formwork made from timber is called
traditional formwork.
• The construction methods using timber
formwork have been used on site for years,
and all well understood by trained operators.
 Aluminum

• Pure aluminum chemically attacked by wet

concrete
• Light weight allow larger forming units
• High reuse value

Aluminum beam
“nailer - type”

Prof Awad S. Hanna

Aluminium:
• Often used in pre-fabricated formwork, that is
put together on site.
• Aluminum is strong and light, and consequently
fewer supports and ties are required.
• The lighter sections will deflect more, but this
can be avoided by simply following the
manufacturers recommendations.
Aluminum Formwork
 Steel
• For heavy concrete work
• With reasonable care will last indefinitely
• High initial cost and high handling cost

Prof Awad S. Hanna

 Plastics
• Glass reinforced plastics (GRP) and vacuum
formed plastics are used when complicated
concrete shapes are required (e.g. waffle floors).
• Although vacuum formed plastics will always
need support, GRP can be fabricated with
integral bearers making itself supporting.
• Like steel, plastic formwork can be re-used many
times, as long as care is taken not to scour the
surface whilst vibrating the concrete.
Example of Plastic Formwork
 Construction of Concrete formwork

• This normally involves the following

operations:
• Propping and centering
• Shuttering
• Provision of camber
• Cleaning and surface treatment
 Order and method of removing formwork

The sequence of orders and method of removal of

formwork are as follows:
• Shuttering forming the vertical faces of walls,
beams and column sides should be removed first
as they bear no load but only retain the concrete.
• Shuttering forming soffit of slabs should be
removed next.
• Shuttering forming soffit of beams, girders or other
heavily loaded shuttering should be removed in the
end.
 Period of removal of formwork

Description of structural
S. No. Period of time
member
Walls, columns and vertical
1 1 to 2 days
sides of beams
2 Slabs (props left under) 3 days
Beam soffits (props left
3 7 days
under)
4 Removal of props to slabs
(a) For slabs spanning upto
7 days
4.5 m
(b) For slabs spanning over
14 days
4.5 m
Removal of props to
5
beams and arches
(a) Spanning upto 6 m 14 days
(b) spanning over 6 m 21 days