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Formwork Slab Design

The document outlines the design considerations for formwork used in slab construction, detailing the loads and pressures exerted on formwork by fresh concrete, vertical loads, and horizontal loads. It provides equations for calculating lateral pressure based on various factors, as well as guidelines for vertical and horizontal load requirements. Additionally, it includes a practical example of calculating formwork material requirements for a specific building project.

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Mohammad AlMustafa Ibrahim
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33 views9 pages

Formwork Slab Design

The document outlines the design considerations for formwork used in slab construction, detailing the loads and pressures exerted on formwork by fresh concrete, vertical loads, and horizontal loads. It provides equations for calculating lateral pressure based on various factors, as well as guidelines for vertical and horizontal load requirements. Additionally, it includes a practical example of calculating formwork material requirements for a specific building project.

Uploaded by

Mohammad AlMustafa Ibrahim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Formwork design for slab

 Loads and Pressures on Formworks


o Lateral Pressure of fresh Concrete on Formwork
o Vertical loads on Formwork
o Horizontal loads on Formwork

Lateral Pressure of fresh Concrete on Formwork


The gravity load on a horizontal slab or beam formwork differs from the loads
imposed by fresh concrete against wall or column formwork. The freshly placed
concrete behaves like a fluid for a short time until the concrete begins to set,
causing hydrostatic pressure to act laterally on the vertical forms.

Concrete pressure on formwork is primarily determined by several or all of the


following factors:

1. Rate of placing concrete in forms (R)


2. The temperature of concrete (T)
3. Weight or density of concrete (ρ)
4. Cement type or blend used in the concrete.
5. Method of consolidating the concrete.
6. Method of placement of the concrete.
7. Depth of placement.
8. Height of form.
Lateral Pressure equations

The American Concrete Institute has spent a lot of time and effort researching
and studying form design and construction techniques. The complete
hydrostatic lateral pressure, as defined by the following equations, is the
maximum pressure on formwork, according to ACI Committee (347).

p = ρgh (kPa) ——— (1)

The set characteristics of a concrete mixture should be understood, and the


level of fluid concrete can be calculated using the rate of placement. When
more than one placement of concrete is to be made, (h) should be taken as the
complete height of the form or the distance between horizontal construction
joints for columns or other forms that can be filled quickly before stiffening of
the concrete occurs.
When working with mixtures using newly introduced admixtures that increase
set time or increase slump characteristics, such as self-consolidating concrete,
Eq. (1) should be used until the effect on formwork pressure is understood by
measurement.

For concrete having a slump of 175 mm or less and placed with normal internal
vibration to a depth of 1.2 m or less, formwork can be designed for a lateral
pressure as follows:

For columns:
For determining pressure of concrete on formwork ACI 347 defines a column as
a vertical structural member with no plan dimensions greater than 2m. For
concrete with a slump (175 mm):

pmax = CwCc [7.2 + (785R/T + 17.8)] ——— (2)

With a minimum of 30 Cw kPa, but in no case greater than ρgh.

For walls: For determining pressure of concrete on formwork ACI 347 defines a
wall as a vertical structural member with at least one plan dimension greater
than 2m. Two equations are provided for wall form pressure:

(a) With a rate of placement of less than 2.1 m/hr and a placement height not
exceeding 4.2 m :
pmax = CwCc [7.2 + (785R/T + 17.8)] ——— (3)

With a minimum of 30Cw kPa, but in no case greater than ρgh.

(b) with a placement rate less than 2.1 m/hr where placement height exceeds
4.2 m, and for all walls with a placement rate of 2.1 to 4.5 m/hr:
pmax = CwCc [7.2 + 1156/(T + 17.8) + 244/(T + 17.7)] ——— (4)
With a minimum of 30Cw kPa, but in no case greater than ρgh.

Where;
Cw = Unit weight coefficient which depends on the unit weight of the concrete
Cc = Chemistry coefficient which depends on the type of cementitious materials

Alternatively, a method based on appropriate experimental data can be used to


determine the lateral pressure used for form design.

The unit weight coefficient Cw can be calculated using the Table below;

Density of concrete Unit weight coefficient (C )


w

Less than 2240 kg/m3 Cw = 0.5[1 + ρc/2320] but not less than 0.8
2240 – 2400 kg/m3 Cw = 1.0

More than 2400 kg/m3 Cw = ρc /2320

The value of the chemistry coefficient Cc can be picked from the Table below;

Chemistry Coefficient
Type of cement
Cc

Types I, II, and III without retarders 1.0

Types I, II, and III with retarders 1.2

Other types or blends containing less than 70% slag or 40% fly ash without
1.2
retarders

Other types or blends containing less than 70% slag or 40% fly ash with
1.4
retarders

Other types or blends containing more than 70% slag or 40% fly ash 1.4

In the UK, the formula for calculating the pressure on formworks according
to CIRIA Report 108 is given by the equation below, which must not be greater
than the hydrostatic pressure.

Pmax = [C1√R + C2K √(H1 – C1√R)]γ

Where:
Pmax = Maximum lateral pressure against formwork (kPa)
R = Rate of placement (m/h)
C1 = Coefficient for the size and shape of the formwork (1 for walls).
C2 = Coefficient for the constituent materials of the concrete (0.3 – 0.6).
γ = Specific weight of concrete (kN/m3).
H1 = Vertical form height (m).
K = Temperature coefficient K = (36/T + 16)2

Vertical loads on Formwork


In addition to lateral pressure, vertical loads are also imposed on formwork.
Vertical loads consist of dead and live loads. The weight of formwork, the weight
of the reinforcement and freshly placed concrete is dead load. The live load
includes the weight of the workers, equipment, material storage, runways, and
impact.
Vertical loads assumed for shoring and reshoring design for multistory
construction should include all loads transmitted from the floors above as
dictated by the proposed construction schedule.

The majority of all formwork involves concrete weighting 22 – 24 kN/m 3. Minor


variations in this weight are not significant, and for the majority of cases, 24
kN/m3 including the weight of reinforcing steel is commonly assumed for design.
Formwork weights vary from as little as 0.15 to 0.7 kN/m 2. When the formwork
weight is small in relation to the weight of the concrete plus live load, it is
frequently, neglected.

ACI committee 347 recommends that both vertical supports and horizontal
framing components of formwork should be designed for a minimum live load of
2.4 kN/m2 of horizontal projection to provide for the weight of workmen,
runways, screeds and other equipment. When motorized carts are used, the
minimum should be 3.6 kN/m2. Regardless of slab thickness, the minimum
design load for combined dead and live loads should not be less than 4.8
kN/m2 or 6.0 kN/m2 if motorized carts are used.

Horizontal loads on Formwork


Horizontal loads include the assumed value of load due to wind, dumping of
concrete, inclined placement of concrete, cable tensions and equipment. The
impact of wind increases with height. Horizontal loads should be not less than
1.5 kN/m of floor edge or 2% of total dead load on the form.

Bracing should be provided to withstand the side sway effects which occur when
concrete is placed unsymmetrical on a slab form. Wall form bracing should be
designed to meet the minimum wind load requirements of the local building
code with adjustments for shorter recurrence intervals.

For wall forms exposed to the elements, the minimum wind design load should
not be less than (0.72 kN/m2). Bracing for wall forms should be designed for a
horizontal load of at least 1.5 kN/m of wall length, applied at the top. Wall forms
of unusual height or exposure should be given special consideration.

Formwork Requirement for Suspended Slabs


In Nigeria, the standard given below works for normally proportioned reinforced
concrete slabs.

Sheathing – 20 mm thick marine plywood


Joists – 200mm deep wooden H-beams spaced at 600 mm c/c
Stringers – 200mm deep wooden H-beams spaced at 1000 mm c/c
Shores – Steel props spaced at 1000 mm c/c
For low-cost construction, the following can be used;

Sheathing – 25 mm thick wooden planks


Joists – 2″ x 3″ wood (50 mm x 75 mm) spaced at 400mm c/c
Stringers – 2″ x 4″ wood (50 mm x 100 mm) spaced at 600 mm c/c
Shores – Bamboo wood spaced at 600 mm c/c

Now having known how to arrange formwork for floor slab, the next phase is to
determine how to place your order of materials. We will use a typical example
to show how it is done.

The first-floor plan of a building is shown below. We are to determine the


formwork requirement of the floor slab. We will be neglecting the floor beams in
this calculation.
On studying the drawing,
Length of longer side of building = 16.120 m
Length of shorter side of building = 12.530 m
Therefore, gross area of building = 201.9836 m2

Area of openings (lift and staircase) = 18.21 m 2

Therefore net area of slab = 201.9836 – 18.21 = 183.7736 m 2

Marine Plywood Requirement


Area of each marine plywood = 2.4m x 1.2m = 2.88 m 2

Number of marine plywood required = 183.7736/2.88 = 63.8


Therefore, supply 64 pieces of (2.4m x 1.2m) marine plywood (no allowance for
wastage)

If plank were to be used;


Area of one plank = 3.6m x 0.3m = 1.08 m2
Therefore, supply 183.7736/1.08 = 171 pcs of (1″ x 12″ x 12′ plank)

Floor Joist Requirement


Length of wooden H-beam = We normally have variety of 3.9 m or 2.9 m
Considering the longer side of the building;

Number of H-beam required per line = 16.12/3.9 = 4.13 No


We can therefore say, provide 4 No of 3.9m H-beam and 1 No of 2.9m H-beam
per line (there will be projections though, and appropriate considerations should
be made on site)

Spacing = 600mm

Therefore, number of lines required = 12.53/0.6 + 1 = 22 lines

Hence provide;
3.9m H-beam = 4 x 22 = 88 pieces
2.9m H-beam = 1 x 22 = 22 pieces

If it were to be that 2″ x 3″ wood will be used;


Supply length of 2″ x 3″ wood in Nigeria = 3.6m

Number of 2″ x 3″ wood required per line = 16.12/3.6 = 4.47 pcs


At a spacing of 400 mm, we have 12.53/0.4 + 1 = 33 lines
Therefore, number of 2″ x 3″ wood required for floor joists = 4.47 x 33 = 148
pieces

Stringer Requirement
We will also be using wooden H-beams for stringers. This will run parallel to the
shorter side of the building;

Number of H-beam required per line = 12.53/3.9 = 3.21


We can therefore say, provide 3 No of 3.9m H-beam and 1 No of 2.9m H-beam
per line

Spacing = 1000mm

Therefore, number of lines required = 16.12/1.0 + 1 = 17 lines

Summarily provide;
3.9m H-beam = 3 x 17 = 51 pieces
2.9m H-beam = 1 x 17 = 17 pieces

Shoring Requirement
Steel a crow props will be used for the shoring;
Spacing = 1m c/c
Number required on the longer side = 16.12/1 + 1 = 17 pcs
Number required on the shorter side = 12.53/1 + 1 = 14 pcs

Acrow props required = 17 x 14 = 238 pieces

Number of props required in the lift and staircase area


Length of lift area and staircase area = 5.055m (6 props)
Width of lift and staircase area = 3.60m (5 props)
Number of props that would have been in lift area = 5 x 6 = 30 pieces
Therefore, the total number of a crow props required = 238 – 30 = 208 pieces

Formwork summary for floor slab;

 Marine ply wood = 64 pieces


 3.9m H-beam = 88 + 51 = 139 pieces
 2.9m H-beam = 17 + 22 = 39 pieces
 A crow Props = 208 pieces
Note that all these materials can be hired because they are very reusable. This
is one of the advantages. For instance, marine plywood can be used 8 times
before it gets damaged, and wooden H-beams (joists) are very durable for a
long period of time provided they are well handled and protected from long
exposure to moisture.

I hope you found this piece of information helpful. Thank you for visiting Struct
Ville today and God bless you. Kindly contact info@structville.com and find out
how we can be of help to you.

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