Design and building concrete formwork effectively requires a basic understanding of how

concrete behaves as it exerts pressure on formwork. Concrete exerts lateral pressure on the
formwork. The formwork is designed based on these lateral forces.

Concrete Formwork Design Considerations

Lateral concrete pressure on formwork is affected by:

1. Height of concrete pour

2. Concrete pour rate
3. Weight of concrete
4. Temperature
5. Type of cement
6. Vibration
7. Concrete slump (water–cement ratio)
8. Chemical additives

1) Height of concrete pour: Before concrete hardens, it acts like a liquid and pushes against
the forms the way water presses against the walls of a storage tank. The amount of pressure at
any point on the form is directly determined by the height and weight of concrete above it.
Pressure is not affected by the thickness of the wall.

Fig: Lateral concrete pressure on formwork

2) Concrete pour rate: Concrete pressure at any point on the form is directly proportional to
the height of liquid concrete above it. If concrete begins to harden before the pour is
complete, the full liquid head will not develop and the pressure against the forms will be less
than if the pour were completed before any of concrete hardened.

Once concrete hardens it cannot exert more pressure on the forms even though liquid
concrete continues to be placed above it. The following diagrams illustrates how form
pressure varies when the pour rate is increased from one level to another level. For ease of
explanation, it is assumed that concrete hardens in one hour (typically) at 21°C.
 Fig: Concrete pressure on formwork during hardening

When the pour rate is increased the pressure also increases as shown below:

Fig: Concrete pressure on formwork due to higher pour rate

3) Weight of Concrete: Pressure exerted against the forms is directly proportional to the unit
weight of concrete. Lightweight concrete will exert less pressure than normal weight concrete
as shown below:

Fig: Pressure on formwork due to normal and lightweight concretes

4) Temperature: The time it takes concrete to harden is influenced greatly by its

temperature. The higher the temperature of the concrete, the quicker it will harden. Most
formwork designs are based on an assumed average air and concrete temperature of 21°C.
At low air temperatures, the hardening of concrete is delayed and you need to decrease your
pour rate or heat your concrete to keep the pressure against the formwork from increasing.

Ideally, concrete should be poured at temperatures between 16°C and 38°C. Outside this
temperature range there is often insufficient moisture available for curing. If adequate water
for curing is not available or freezes, the strength of the concrete will suffer.

5) Type of Cement: The cement type will influence the rate at which concrete hardens. A
high early strength concrete will harden faster than normal concrete and will allow a faster
pour rate. When using a cement which alters the normal set and hardening time, be sure to
adjust the pour rate accordingly.

6) Vibration: Internal vibration consolidates concrete and causes it to behave like the pure
liquid. If concrete is not vibrated, it will exert less pressure on the forms. ACI recommended
formulas for form pressures may be reduced 10% if the concrete is spaded rather than
internally vibrated. Re-vibration and external vibration result in higher form loads than
internal vibration. These types of vibration require specially designed forms.

7) Concrete Slump: When concrete has very low slump, it acts less like a liquid and will
transmit less pressure. When using concrete with a slump greater than 100 mm, the formwork
should be designed to resist full liquid head.

8) Chemical additives: When using chemical additives – i.e. retarders, plasticizers, etc. –
make sure to refer to the vendor’s application data.

Concrete formworks are subjected to various loads and pressure. Concrete formwork loads
and pressure calculations are described in this article.

Formworks or molds are considerably important for building constrictions by holding fresh
concrete mixture at place until it get required strength by which the self weight can be
sustained.

Generally, there are various loads which are possible to act on formworks. Vertical loads are
one of the most significant loads that act on formworks and are due to the self weight of the
formwork and casted concrete plus live load of worker in addition to their equipment.

Moreover, internal pressures which caused by the behavior of liquid fresh concrete, is acted
on vertical formworks. Furthermore, it is mandatory to provide lateral bracing to achieve
stability against lateral forces for example wind loads.
Concrete Formwork Loads and Pressure Calculations
Following are the various types of loads and pressures act on concrete formwork:

1. Vertical load
2. Lateral pressure of concrete
3. Horizontal loads
4. Special loads

1. Vertical Loads on Concrete Formwork

Vertical loads are exerted on formworks and may consist of dead loads such as formwork
dead load, steel reinforcement embedded in the forms, molded fresh concrete and live loads
such as the weight of workers, equipments, and tools.
It is recommended to compute weight of materials separately in the case of heavy
reinforcement to specify accurate unit weight.

ACI 347-04: Guide to Formwork of Concrete specify that, to allow for workers and their
placing tools such as screeds, vibrators, and hoses, at least 2.4Kpa live load should be used
for the design of horizontal formworks and a minimum live load of 3.6 kPa should be
employed in cases where motorized carts and buggies are utilized.

Furthermore, ACI 347-04 determines combined live and dead load design of not less than 4.8
kPa or 6 kPa if motorized carts are employed.

Finally, formwork selfweight is calculated using unit weight and dimensions of formwork
various parts. The weight of formworks is substantially less than fresh concrete dead load and
construction live load. That is why an allowance is decided as superimposed load per square
meter for form work components during design.

An initial assumption is made between 0.239-0.718 kPa based on experience and checked
after the member is sized. This estimation is depending on the fact that common weight of
formworks is 0.239-0.718 kPa.

2. Lateral Pressure on Concrete Formwork

Internal pressure resulted from accumulated depth of placed concrete is imposed on vertical
formworks such as walls and columns. During vibration and for short period after vibration,
placed fresh concrete close to the top and to a small depth of formwork behaves like a liquid
and impose lateral pressure on the formwork that is equal to the vertical liquid head. Fresh
concrete is granular with internal friction but vibrations eliminate bonds in the mixture and
generate liquid state.

There are different reasons such as placement rate, concrete temperature, and internal
frictions that affect lateral pressure of below vibration controlled depth and make lateral
pressure smaller than liquid pressure head.

When vertical placement is carried out at slow pace, fresh concrete could have time to start
stiffening. Moreover, unless concrete temperature is low, the time to start setting is not short.

Other factors such as pore water movement, creation of friction and other parameters may
lead to decline lateral pressure. Various types of cement, admixtures, cement substitutes,
construction practices might influence level of lateral pressure.

Mostly, concrete lateral distribution pressure, which based on tests, is depicted as shown in
Figure-1. The distribution begins close to the top as a liquid and reaches peak value at lower
level. For design reasons, it is suggested that ultimate pressure is uniform at conservative
value.
 Figure-1: Typical and Assumed Distribution of Concrete Lateral Pressure on
Formworks

Calculation of Lateral Pressure on Concrete Formwork

ACI 347-04 specify that, concrete lateral pressure is computed as per Equation-1 if fresh
concrete slump value is greater than 175 mm and does not placed with normal internal
vibration to a depth of 1.2 m or less.

Where:

P: Lateral pressure of concrete, kPa

: Density of concrete, Kg/m3

g: Gravitational constant, 9.81 N/kg

h: Depth of fluid or plastic concrete from top of the placement to the point of consideration in
the form, m

However, ACI 347-04 stated that, if concrete slump value is no larger than 175 mm and
placed with normal vibration to a depth of 1.2 m or less, then lateral pressure of concrete is
calculated as follows:
Lateral Pressure on Concrete Formworks for Columns

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

Where:

Pmax: Maximum lateral pressure of concrete, kPa

Cw: Coefficient of unit weight which is provided in

Cc: Coefficient of chemistry that is provided in

R: Concrete placement rate, m/h

T: Concrete temperature during placing, oC

Lateral Pressure on Concrete Formworks for Walls

Concrete lateral pressure for walls with placement rate, smaller than 2.1 m/h and
placement height is no greater than 4.2 m.

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

Concrete lateral pressure for walls with placement rate of greater than 2.1 m/h and
placement height exceeds 4.2 m, and for all walls with placement rate of 2.1 to 4.5 m/h.

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

Table-1: Unit Weight Coefficient, Cw

Density of concrete, Kg/m3 Cw

Cw=0.5[1+(w / 2320 Kg/m3)] but not

Less than 2240
less than 0.80

2240 to 2400 1.0

More than 2400 Cw=w / 2320 Kg/m3

Table-2: Chemistry coefficient, Cc

Type of cement or blend Cc

Type I, II, and III without retarders 1 1.0

Type I, II, and III with a retarder 1 1.2

Other types or blend containing less than 70 percent slag or 40

1.2
percent fly ash without retarders1

Other types or blend containing less than 70 percent slag or 40

1.4
percent fly ash with a retarder1

blend containing more than 70 percent slag or 40 percent fly

1.4
ash

1
Retarders include any admixture, such as a retarder, retarding water reducer, retarding
mid-range  water reducing admixture, or high-range water-reducing admixture
(superplasticizer), that delays setting of concrete.

Moreover, for pressure equation utilization, columns are defined as vertical elements with no
plan dimensions surpass 2 m, and walls are vertical elements with at least one plan dimension
larger than 2 m.

Finally, in column forms, internal pressure in transferred to the external tie elements on
adjacent side of the form which used as links between opposite sides of square or circular
column. Furthermore, internal pressure in wall forms is transferred from plywood, studs, or
wales to the tension ties that link two opposite sides of the form.

In addition to provide aforementioned techniques to withstand internal pressures, providing

resisting elements for example braces are essential for resisting external horizontal loads
which tend to overturn wall, column, slab forms as shown in Figure-2 and Figure-3.

Figure-2: Schematic Bracing in Slab Formworks

 Figure-3: Schematic Bracing in Walls Formworks

3. Horizontal Loads on Concrete Formworks

Horizontal loads might result from forces like wind, concrete dumping, equipment starting
and stopping, and inclined supports should be opposed by properly designed braces and
shore.

For building construction, assumed value for these loads should not be less than the larger of
either 1.5 KN/m of floor edge or 2% of total dead load spread as uniform load per slab edge
linear meter, these assumptions is specified by ACI 347-04.

Bracing for wall forms should be designed to meet requirements of minimum wind loads of
ASCE 7-10 with adjustments for shorter recurrence intervals which could be found in ASCE
37-02

For wall forms exposed to elements 0.72 kPa or greater is used as minimum wind design
load. Wall from bracing need to be designed for loads no less than 1.5 KN/m of wall length
which is applied at the top.

4. Special Loads on Concrete Formworks

It is required to design formworks for uncommon construction conditions that could occur
such as reinforcement concentrated loads, unsymmetrical placement of concrete, machine-
delivered concrete impact, uplift, form handling loads.

Constructing walls over spans of slab or beams that could impose different loading pattern
before concrete hardening than that for which the supporting structure is designed for, is an
example of special conditions that should be taken into consideration b form designer.