Formwork

Formwork is molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast or cast-in-place. In
the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering molds. In specialty
applications formwork may be permanently incorporated into the final structure, adding insulation
or helping reinforce the finished structure.

Animation depicting construction of

multi-story building using aluminum
handset formwork.

Modular steel frame formwork for a

foundation. Rebar has been stubbed
up out of the concrete slab to form
the base of future columns

Timber formwork for a

concrete column. Adjustable
metal screw jacks both
stabilize and plumb the form
 Aluminum formwork system

Sketch of the side view of traditional

timber formwork used to form a flight
of stairs

Placing a wall form. A matching form

will be placed on the opposite side to
create the space to pour concrete into

Types

Formwork may be made of wood, metal, plastic, or composite materials:

1. Traditional timber formwork. The formwork is built on site out of timber and plywood or
moisture-resistant particleboard. It is easy to produce but time-consuming for larger
structures, and the plywood facing has a relatively short lifespan. It is still used extensively
where the labour costs are lower than the costs for procuring reusable formwork. It is also the
most flexible type of formwork, so even where other systems are in use, complicated sections
may use it.

2. Engineered Formwork System. This formwork is built out of prefabricated modules with a metal
frame (usually steel or aluminium) and covered on the application (concrete) side with material
having the wanted surface structure (steel, aluminum, timber, etc.). The two major advantages
of formwork systems, compared to traditional timber formwork, are speed of construction
(modular systems pin, clip, or screw together quickly) and lower life-cycle costs (barring major
force, the frame is almost indestructible, while the covering if made of wood; may have to be
 replaced after a few - or a few dozen - uses, but if the covering is made with steel or aluminium
the form can achieve up to two thousand uses depending on care and the applications). Metal
formwork systems are better protected against rot and fire than traditional timber formwork.

3. Re-usable plastic formwork. These interlocking and modular systems are used to build widely
variable, but relatively simple, concrete structures. The panels are lightweight and very robust.
They are especially suited for similar structure projects and low-cost, mass housing schemes.
To get an added layer of protection against destructive weather, galvanized roofs will help by
eliminating the risk of corrosion and rust. These types of modular enclosures can have load-
bearing roofs to maximize space by stacking on top of one another. They can either be
mounted on an existing roof, or constructed without a floor and lifted onto existing enclosures
using a crane.

4. Permanent Insulated Formwork. This formwork is assembled on site, usually out of insulating
concrete forms (ICF). The formwork stays in place after the concrete has cured, and may
provide advantages in terms of speed, strength, superior thermal and acoustic insulation,
space to run utilities within the EPS layer, and integrated furring strip for cladding finishes.

5. Stay-In-Place structural formwork systems. This formwork is assembled on site, usually out of
prefabricated fiber-reinforced plastic forms. These are in the shape of hollow tubes, and are
usually used for columns and piers. The formwork stays in place after the concrete has cured
and acts as axial and shear reinforcement, as well as serving to confine the concrete and
prevent against environmental effects, such as corrosion and freeze-thaw cycles.

6. Flexible formwork. In contrast to the rigid moulds described above, flexible formwork is a
system that uses lightweight, high strength sheets of fabric to take advantage of the fluidity of
concrete and create highly optimised, architecturally interesting, building forms. Using flexible
formwork it is possible to cast optimised structures that use significantly less concrete than an
equivalent strength prismatic section,[1] thereby offering the potential for significant embodied
energy savings in new concrete structures.
Slab formwork (deck formwork)

Pantheon dome

Schematic sketch of traditional

formwork

Modular formwork with deck for

housing project in Chile

Steel and plywood formwork for

poured-in-place concrete foundation
History

Some of the earliest examples of concrete slabs were built by Roman engineers. Because concrete
is quite strong in resisting compressive loads, but has relatively poor tensile or torsional strength,
these early structures consisted of compression-resistant arches, vaults and domes. The most
notable concrete structure from this period is the Pantheon in Rome. To mould this structure,
temporary scaffolding and formwork or falsework was built in the future shape of the structure.
These building techniques were not isolated to pouring concrete, but were and are widely used in
masonry construction. Because of the complexity and the limited production capacity of the
building material, concrete's rise as a favored building material did not occur until the invention of
Portland cement and reinforced concrete.

Timber beam slab formwork

Similar to the traditional method, but stringers and joists are typically replaced with engineered
wood beams and supports are replaced with adjustable metal props. This makes this method more
systematic and reusable.

Traditional slab formwork

Traditional timber formwork on a jetty

in Bangkok

On the dawn of the revival of concrete in slab structures, building techniques for the temporary
structures were derived again from masonry and carpentry. The traditional slab formwork technique
consists of supports out of lumber or young tree trunks, that support rows of stringers assembled
roughly 3 to 6 feet or 1 to 2 metres apart, depending on thickness of slab. Between these stringers,
joists are positioned roughly 12 inches (30 cm) apart, upon which boards or plywood are placed.
The stringers and joists are usually 4 by 4 inch or 4 by 6 inch lumber. The most common imperial
plywood thickness is 3⁄4 inch and the most common metric thickness is 18 mm.
Metal beam slab formwork

Similar to the traditional method, but stringers and joist are replaced with aluminium forming
systems or steel beams and supports are replaced with metal props. This also makes this method
more systematic and reusable. Aluminum beams are fabricated as telescoping units which allows
them to span supports that are located at varying distances apart. Telescoping aluminium beams
can be used and reused in the construction of structures of varying size.

Hand setting modular aluminum deck

formwork

Handset modular aluminum formwork

Modular slab formwork

These systems consist of prefabricated timber, steel or aluminum beams and formwork modules.
Modules are often no larger than 3 to 6 feet or 1 to 2 metres in size. The beams and formwork are
typically set by hand and pinned, clipped, or screwed together. The advantages of a modular system
are: does not require a crane to place the formwork, speed of construction with unskilled labor,
formwork modules can be removed after concrete sets leaving only beams in place prior to
achieving design strength.

Table or flying form systems

These systems consist of slab formwork "tables" that are reused on multiple stories of a building
without being dismantled. The assembled sections are either lifted per elevator or "flown" by crane
from one story to the next. Once in position the gaps between the tables or table and wall are filled
with temporary formwork. Table forms vary in shape and size as well as their building material, with
some supported by integral trusses. The use of these systems can greatly reduce the time and
manual labor involved in setting and striking (or "stripping") the formwork. Their advantages are
best used by large area and simple structures. It is also common for architects and engineers to
design building around one of these systems.

Flying formwork tables with

aluminium and timber joists. In this
system the tables are supported by
adjustable shoes attached to
previously poured columns and walls

Structure

A table is built pretty much the same way as a beam formwork but the single parts of this system
are connected together in a way that makes them transportable. The most common sheathing is
plywood, but steel and fiberglass are used. The joists are either made from timber, engineered
lumber (often in the form of I-beams), aluminium or steel. The stringers are sometimes made of
wood I-beams but usually from steel channels. These are fastened together (screwed, weld or
bolted) to become a "deck". These decks are usually rectangular but can also be other shapes.

Support

All support systems have to be height adjustable to allow the formwork to be placed at the correct
height and to be removed after the concrete is cured. Normally adjustable metal props similar to (or
the same as) those used by beam slab formwork are used to support these systems. Some
systems combine stringers and supports into steel or aluminum trusses. Yet other systems use
metal frame shoring towers, which the decks are attached to. Another common method is to attach
the formwork decks to previously cast walls or columns, thus eradicating the use of vertical props
altogether. In this method, adjustable support shoes are bolted through holes (sometimes tie holes)
or attached to cast anchors.
Size

The size of these tables can vary from 70 to 1,500 square feet (6.5 to 140 m2). There are two
general approaches in this system:

1. Crane handled: this approach consists of assembling or producing the tables with a large
formwork area that can only be moved up a level by crane. Typical widths can be 15, 18 or
20 feet, or 5 to 7 metres, but their width can be limited, so that it is possible to transport them
assembled, without having to pay for an oversize load. The length might vary and can be up to
100 feet (or more) depending on the crane capacity. After the concrete is cured, the decks are
lowered and moved with rollers or trolleys to the edge of the building. From then on the
protruding side of the table is lifted by crane while the rest of the table is rolled out of the
building. After the centre of gravity is outside of the building the table is attached to another
crane and flown to the next level or position.

This technique is fairly common in the United States and east Asian countries. The advantages of
this approach are the further reduction of manual labour time and cost per unit area of slab and a
simple and systematic building technique. The disadvantages of this approach are the necessary
high lifting capacity of building site cranes, additional expensive crane time, higher material costs
and little flexibility.

Formwork tables in use at a building

site with more complicated structural
features

2. Crane fork or elevator handled:

By this approach the tables are limited in size and weight. Typical widths are between 6 and 10 feet
(1.8 and 3.0 m), typical lengths are between 12 and 20 feet (3.7 and 6.1 m), though table sizes may
vary in size and form. The major distinction of this approach is that the tables are lifted either with a
crane transport fork or by material platform elevators attached to the side of the building. They are
usually transported horizontally to the elevator or crane lifting platform singlehandedly with shifting
trolleys depending on their size and construction. Final positioning adjustments can be made by
trolley. This technique enjoys popularity in the US, Europe and generally in high labor cost countries.
The advantages of this approach in comparison to beam formwork or modular formwork is a further
reduction of labor time and cost. Smaller tables are generally easier to customize around
geometrically complicated buildings, (round or non rectangular) or to form around columns in
comparison to their large counterparts. The disadvantages of this approach are the higher material
costs and increased crane time (if lifted with crane fork).

Tunnel forms

Tunnel forms are large, room size forms that allows walls and floors to be cast in a single pour. With
multiple forms, the entire floor of a building can be done in a single pour. Tunnel forms require
sufficient space exterior to the building for the entire form to be slipped out and hoisted up to the
next level. A section of the walls is left uncasted to remove the forms. Typically castings are done
with a frequency of 4 days. Tunnel forms are most suited for buildings that have the same or similar
cells to allow re-use of the forms within the floor and from one floor to the next, in regions which
have high labor prices.Tunnel formwork saves the time and the cost.

See structural coffer.

Concrete-form oil

The main purpose of concrete-form oil is to reduce the adhesion between the foundation structure
and the concrete mixture poured into it.[2] It also reduces the possibility of cracks and chips
occurring due to drying out or concrete overstressing. Without concrete-form oil, which reduces the
adhesion between surfaces, it becomes virtually impossible to remove the structure without
damaging the foundation, wall or bulkhead. The risk also increases with the size of the tier.[3]

Climbing formwork

Climbing formwork, also known as jumpform, is a special type formwork for vertical concrete
structures that rises with the building process. While relatively complicated and costly, it can be an
effective solution for buildings that are either very repetitive in form (such as towers or skyscrapers)
or that require a seamless wall structure (using gliding formwork, a special type of climbing
formwork).

Various types of climbing formwork exist, which are either relocated from time to time, or can even
move on their own (usually on hydraulic jacks, required for self-climbing and gliding formworks).
Climbing forms are commonly used on:

Skyscrapers

Bridge pylons

Concrete columns

Airport control towers

High rise buildings

Elevator shafts

Silos[4]

Flexible formwork

There is an increasing focus on sustainability in design, backed up by carbon dioxide emissions

reduction targets. The low embodied energy of concrete by volume is offset by its rate of
consumption which make the manufacture of cement accountable for some 5% of global CO2
emissions.[5]

Concrete is a fluid that offers the opportunity to economically create structures of almost any
geometry - concrete can be poured into a mould of almost any shape. The result, however, is high
material use structures with large carbon footprints. The ubiquitous use of orthogonal moulds as
concrete formwork has resulted in a well-established vocabulary of prismatic forms for concrete
structures, yet such rigid formwork systems must resist considerable pressures and consume
significant amounts of material. Moreover, the resulting member requires more material and has a
greater self-weight than one cast with a variable cross section.

Simple optimisation methods[6][7][8] may be used to design a variable cross section member in
which the flexural and shear capacity at any point along the element length reflects the
requirements of the loading envelope applied to it.

By replacing conventional moulds with a flexible system composed primarily of low cost fabric
sheets, flexible formwork takes advantage of the fluidity of concrete to create highly optimised,
architecturally interesting building forms. Significant material savings can be achieved.[9] The
optimised section provides ultimate limit state capacity while reducing embodied carbon, thus
improving the life cycle performance of the entire structure.

Control of the flexibly formed beam cross section is key to achieving low-material use design. The
basic assumption is that a sheet of flexible permeable fabric is held in a system of falsework before
reinforcement and concrete are added. By varying the geometry of the fabric mould with distance
along the beam, the optimised shape is created. Flexible formwork therefore has the potential to
facilitate the change in design and construction philosophy that will be required for a move towards
a less material intensive, more sustainable, construction industry.[10]

Fabric formwork is a small niche in concrete technology. It uses soft, flexible materials as formwork
against the fresh concrete, normally with some sort of strong tension textile or plastic material. The
International Society of Fabric Forming conducts research on fabric formwork.[11]

Iron sheet formwork

A design from Russian NPO-22 factory (trademarked as Proster, with model 21 designed to serve as
formwork) uses iron "sheets" (with perforations) which, if necessary, can be bent to form a curve.
The sheet-based formwork with V-shaped rails keeps shape in one direction (vertically) but, before
being reinforced with steel beams, can be bent. Multiple sheets can be fixed together in same
manner fences made of iron "sheets" can be.

A circle can be made from a single sheet of "21" formwork, allowing cylindrical columns to be
poured.

Usage

For removable forms, once the concrete has been poured into formwork and has set (or cured), the
formwork is struck or stripped to expose the finished concrete. The time between pouring and
stripping depends on the job specifications, which include the cure required, and whether the form is
supporting any weight; it is usually at least 24 hours after the pour is completed. For example, the
California Department of Transportation requires the forms to be in place for 1–7 days after
pouring,[12] while the Washington State Department of Transportation requires the forms to stay in
place for 3 days with a damp blanket on the outside.[13]

Formwork stripped exposing the set

concrete
Spectacular accidents have occurred when the forms were either removed too soon or had been
under-designed to carry the load imposed by the weight of the uncured concrete. "Form blowouts"
also occur when under-designed formwork bends or breaks during the concrete pour (especially if
filled with a high-pressure concrete pump). Consequences can vary from minor leaks, easily
patched during the pour, to catastrophic form failure, even death.

Concrete exerts less pressure against the forms as it hardens. The hardening is an asymptotic
process, meaning that most of the final strength will be achieved after a short time, with further
hardening over time reflecting the cement type, admixtures, and pour conditions such as
temperature and ambient moisture.

Wet concrete also applies hydrostatic pressure to formwork. The pressure at the bottom of the form
is therefore greater than at the top, causing most blowouts to occur low in the formwork. In the
illustration of the column formwork above, the 'column clamps' are closer together at the bottom.
Note that the column is braced with steel adjustable 'formwork props' and uses 20 mm 'through
bolts' to further support the long side of the column.

Some models of "permanent formwork" also can serve as extra reinforcement of the structure.
Gallery

The concrete Plastic concrete Coal tunnel Concrete pool

structure of the Royal formwork for cross constructed using construction using
National Theatre wall handset aluminum aluminum concrete
carries the concrete forms forms
impression of the
timber shuttering

Soffit formwork to a Stair formwork Sketch showing the Coal silo construction
flight of concrete showing the use of use timber props for using radius concrete
stairs strongbacks to beam forms formwork
support the riser
shutters
Twin steel walers and Column poured using Concrete slab poured Concrete fence
tie bolts used to spiral ducting on roll formed construction using
secure wall forms galvanized steel with aluminum forms to
the form as a impart an ashlar
permanent part of the stone impression in
structure the finished product

Concrete housing Concrete Concrete Engineered formwork

construction in construction in Brazil construction in system in Moscow
Venezuela using using handset Moscow metro using metro
aluminum concrete aluminum concrete special aluminum
formwork formwork concrete formwork

Engineered formwork Pool construction

system in Moscow using "Proster 21"
metro flexible formwork.
See also

Cast in place concrete

Climbing formwork, formwork that climbs up the rising building during the construction

Concrete cover, depth of the concrete between reinforcing steel and outer surface

Precast concrete

Slip forming, construction method in which concrete is poured into a continuously moving form

Literature

Matthias Dupke: Einsatzgebiete der Gleitschalung und der Kletter-Umsetz-Schalung: Ein Vergleich
der Systeme. 2010, Verlag Diplomarbeiten Agentur, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-8386-0295-0.

The Concrete Society, Formwork: A guide to good practice

References

1. Orr, J. J., Darby, A. P., Ibell, T. J., Evernden, M. C. and Otlet, M., 2011. Concrete structures using
fabric formwork. The Structural Engineer, 89 (8), pp. 20-26.

2. "Formwork Lubricants - Types and Uses of Release Agents for Formworks" (https://www.hillan
dgriffith.com/post/formwork-lubricants-types-and-uses-of-release-agents-for-formworks) .
hillandgriffith.com. February 13, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2022.

3. "Lubricant for formwork: characteristics" (https://en.birmiss.com/lubricant-for-formwork-chara

cteristics/) . birmiss.com. Retrieved July 5, 2022.

4. "Here Are Some Reasons Why You Should Start Using Climbing Formwork" (https://www.thebal
ance.com/why-you-should-start-using-climbing-formwork-844448) . The Balance. Retrieved
2018-03-09.

5. WRI (2005) Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Source 2005. Earthtrends Data Tables: Climate and
Atmosphere, Available online

6. Orr JJ, Darby AP, Ibell TJ, et al (2011) Concrete structures using fabric formwork. The Structural
Engineer 89(8): 20-26. http://opus.bath.ac.uk/23588/
 7. Kostova K, Ibell T, Darby AP and Evernden M (2012) Advanced composite reinforcement for
fabric formed structural elements. In Second International Conference on Flexible Formwork
(Orr JJ, Darby AP, Evernden M and Ibell T. (eds)). University of Bath, Bath, UK.
www.icff2012.co.uk

8. Garbett J, Darby AP and Ibell TJ (2010) Optimised beam design using innovative fabric-formed
concrete. Advances in Structural Engineering 13(5): 849-860.

9. Orr JJ, Darby AP, Ibell TJ and Evernden M (2012a) Optimisation and durability in fabric cast
'Double T' beams. In The Second International Conference on Flexible Formwork (Orr JJ, Darby
AP, Evernden M and Ibell T. (eds)). University of Bath, Bath, UK http://opus.bath.ac.uk/30078/

10. Lee, DSH (2010) Study of construction methodology and structural behaviour of fabric formed
form-efficient reinforced concrete beam. PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.

11. "Research papers" (http://www.fabricforming.org/PAPERS.html) . www.fabricforming.org.

Retrieved 2 May 2018.

12. [Section 90-7] from the Caltrans Standard Specifications, 2006

13. [Section 6-02.3(11)] from the WSDOT Standard Specifications, 2006

External links

Stripping time of form work as per india standards (https://web.archive.org/web/2014103015013

3/http://www.construction-guide.in/civil-works/plain-and-reinforced-concrete/stripping-time-form
work-per-456/)

An illustrated glossary of the terms used in temporary types of construction work. Formwork,
scaffolding etc. (https://web.archive.org/web/20090929021948/http://www.builderbill-diy-help.co
m/formwork-glossary.html)