TOPIC 4

Formwork
What is formwork?
is a device usually made out of timber, steel, or many other
kind of materials, destined to contain the fresh concrete in
order for it to get the desirable shape, as set in project.

The forming work accounts for a large part of the costs for
the building shell. The biggest share of these costs goes to
the workers wages, so investing in efficient formwork
equipment helps you to build faster, therefore cut costs and
also you can be much surer of meeting deadlines.
 What is purpose or need of
formwork?

Contains liquid concrete until it can hold

shape ( bentuk ikut saiz)
Supports fresh concrete until it can support
itself (beban sendiri)
Keeps water in the mix until hydration
occurs (beban konkrit)
Create a work platform for workers, plant
etc (tempat bekerja)
 Formwork Principles (Basic
Requirements)

Forms must be strong enough to withstand the loads.

Rigid (stiff) enough to maintain their shape and to prevent
excessive deflection during the placing and curing of concrete.
Joints in forms must be tight enough to prevent wet concrete
(water and cement paste) from leaking through.
Forms must be as simple to build as circumstances will allow.
Form sections must be of a size that can be lifted into place
without too much difficulty and transported from one place to
another.
Stay within dimensional tolerances.
Forms must be designed for many reuses as possible (if
appropriate).
 Formwork Classifications
There are different ways to classify the formwork
systems:
Traditional vs system:

Old stick-by-stick vs innovative approaches

Reusable vs lost forms:

lost formwork forms part of permanent

structure and by definition can only be used
once, e.g., precast panels, steel tubes and
Bondeck, etc.
Static vs movable (climbing) forms:

Movable or climbing forms relocate themselves

to the next location using an integral power
source, e.g. slip form, jump form.
 Material used
Formwork is usually made of wood, metal or plastic.
1. Pressed steel plate
Usually pressed into shutters of modulus size;
Shutters are pre-slotted along edges for easy
bolting
Bolted together along edges to form panels for
life of job
Unlimited reuses if properly handled and cleaned
Not easily cut or reassembled on site
2. Timber
3. Structural or exterior plywood
Good quality material, normally plastic coated
Comes in a variety of thickness
Easily cut, drilled, nailed and handled
Butt jointed and taped for water tightness
May get 10 15 reuses typically
In thin sizes, may be bent in one direction
4. Plastic
the only comprehensive plastic injection moulded formwork
system
the only comprehensive machine-made formwork system
produced to the highest quality standards ISO 9002
comprehensive and incorporates many additional innovations
unlimited production capacity.
without dependence on skilled labour, components are
produced by injection moulding, which allows high production of
very exacting quality standards, in accordance to ISO 9002.
due to the production process, an unlimited number of sets of
house moulding kits can be produced in any country, at any one
time.
components are modular, making adjustments in dimensions
simple, adapting to endless design layouts.
lightweight system and can therefore easily be handled and
transported.
does not require skilled labour to assemble, erect or strip.
Plastic Form
5. Aluminum
This Formwork consists of aluminium panels and components.
It's:
a lightweight hand-held aluminium shuttering system
a mass production technique
employs the latest CAD facilities in designing
uses structural-grade aluminium alloy
environmentally friendly
flexible, accurate and fast
cost effective for up to 250 repeats of a "typical layout"

Erecting columns Erecting roof beams

2 TYPES OF FORMWORK
Temporary Structure
- Temporary structure required to safely
support concrete until it reaches adequate
strength.
Permanent Structure
Temporary formwork
 Permanent formwork
Shot blasted, zinc sprayed
and primer painted, ready
for finish painting
after erection

permanent formwork
for Sheffield
Outer Ring Road
Bridge Support
FORMWORK DESIGN
Loads include in design process are as follows
a) Fresh concrete
b) Rebar
c) Formwork material
d) Wind and lateral loads
e) Live loads due to Formwork construction
- Reinforcing installation
- Concrete placement
 TIMBER FORMWORK
Timber Formwork :
For The Slab

Timber Formwork:
After Concrete Was
Poured
 ADVANTAGES OF
TIMBER FORMWORK

Among the advantages of timber formwork

are as follow:
a) Easy handling because its light weight
b) Easy to disassemble (open it)
c) Damaged parts can be replaced with new one
d) Very flexible
 DISADVANTAGES OF
TIMBER FORMWORK

Among the dis advantages of timber formwork are as follow:

a) Cant be used for long. Have limited re-use. Can only be
re-used 5 or 6 times
b) If the timber is dry, it will absorb moisture from wet
concrete which could weaken the resultant concrete
member.
c) Timber with high moisture content (more than 20 %
moisture content), wet concrete will shrink & cup leading
to open joints & leakage of grout.
 Timber formwork used for the
construction of 2nd and the 3rd floor.
STEEL FORMWORK
ADVANTAGES OF STEEL FORMWORK

Among the advantages of steel formwork

are as follow:
a) Very strong and able to carry heavy load
(carry load besar)
b) Easy to be fixed (senang psg)
c) Uniform size and surface (pelbagai saiz)
d) Can be used for a very long time (guna byk
kali)
 DISADVANTAGES OF STEEL
FORMWORK
Among disadvantages of steel formwork
are as follow:
a) Limited size or shape (saiz terhad)
b) Excessive loss of heat (kehilangan haba)
c) A very smooth surface will be produced
which would give problems for finishing
process (tiada geseran)
d) Limited fixing (Pemasangan terhad)
e) Heavy
 Curved wall formwork

adjustable internal or external

radiused
shaft shutter

special corner panels for use with

shutters for curved walls
proprietary panels
Conical formwork
 Straight wall formwork

vertical wall shutters

purpose made formwork
supplied with access platforms,
handrails
and plumbing props. The lower
flat panels
are used for various
applications
throughout the construction of
the tank
floor bed panels Huddersfield
Column formwork
The light weight
of column forms
means they are
easier and safer to
work with.

Superior off form

finish.

Real savings,
resulting from
reductions in crane
use, installation
labour and
stripping time.
 Complex columns

special head to produce faceted columns can be

head tops to columns at produced
University of Oman with any number of sides

purpose made columns for various applications

Elliptical columns
tapered elliptical support column
for Boulevard Roof , Midsummer
Place, Milton Keynes

Cardiff water barrage

elliptical connection

parallel elliptical shutters for

Canary Wharf station roof support
The first floor circular columns were
constructed using steel column forms.
The steel column form should be oiled
before concreting.
 After concreting to the first floor
columns, the steel column forms were
dismantled easily. (dibuka dgn mudah)
ADVANTAGES OF GLASS REINFORCED
PLASTIC FORMWORK
Among the advantages of glass reinforced
plastic formwork are as follow:
a) Very useful for complex shape and special
features (bentuk yg unik)
b) Easy to disassemble (mudah dibuka)
c) Light (not heavy)
d) Damages on the formwork can be easily be
repaired (mudah baiki kalau rosak)
DISADVANTAGES OF GLASS
REINFORCED PLASTIC FORMWORK
Among the disadvantages of glass
reinforced plastic formwork are as follow:
a) Expensive
Aluminum Formwork
The Formwork is specifically designed to allow rapid
construction on all types of architectural layouts
Total system forms the complete concrete
structure
Custom designed to suit project requirements
Unsurpassed construction speed (nak cepat)
High quality finish (kualiti kemasan)
Cost effective for mass production
Panels can be reused over 100 times
Erected using unskilled labour
Light weight, easy to handle
Low waste
 Formworkparticular risk
control measures

1) An employer must ensure that formwork complies with AS 3610

1995Formwork for concrete .
2) An employer must ensure that formwork is designed, constructed and
maintained so as to support safely all loads that are to be placed on it.
3) An employer must ensure that, before the concrete pour, formwork is
inspected by a qualified engineer and is certified by the qualified engineer
as safe for its intended purpose and the loads that will be placed on it.
4) Sub clause (3) does not apply if:
(a) the deck of the formwork is less than 3 metres above the
lowest surrounding ground level, or
(b) the area of the formwork deck is less than 16 square
metres and is designed to hold not more than 2.5 cubic metres or 6 tonnes
of wet concrete (whichever measure is appropriate).
 Requirement of a good
formwork system
How formwork can be erected and de-shuttered fast.

How good concrete quality and surface finish can be

achieved.

What is the optimum stock of formwork required for the

size of work force, the specified time schedule and flow of
materials.

What is the overall cost savings that can be achieved

using the right type of formwork.

How SAFETY can be improved for the site personnel.

 Safe work practices

Possible hazards associated with the use of formwork are

formwork collapsing,
falling from heights,
falling objects and
hearing damage (during fabrication)
Installing and Dismantling of formwork
Ensure that formwork is not removed before the specified concrete strength is
achieved.
Install a suitable type of safety screen to enclose the area and to prevent the
accidental fall of workers or materials.
Working at height
Form workers should not walk on form ply after the application of stripping oil.
Barricades or covers should be provided for all floor and deck openings.
Ensure that all vertical reinforcing steel is bent or capped to eliminate impalement
if a form worker falls.