Lateral Pressures for Formwork Design

Concrete International, Jun 2007 by Hurd, M K

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A review of the formulas to determine the pressure of fresh concrete
(ProQuestC!A ""C# $$$ denotes formulae omitted$%
&resh concrete e'erts pressure on vertical form surfaces( and an assessment of that pressure is needed for desi)nin) forms$ In the simplest theor*( fresh concrete acts as a fluid e'ertin)
pressure e+uall* in all directions at whatever point the measurement is madeessentiall* assumin) a h*drostatic pressure effect$ ,his is reasona-le -ecause the fresh concrete -ehaves
much li.e a fluid at least -riefl* durin) vi-ration( or for a lon)er time if flowa-ilit* of the mi'ture has -een enhanced throu)h use of admi'tures or special proportionin) and materials
selection$
/oreArticles of Interest
0eterminin) form pressures
1se updated wall pressure formulas
2all formwor. desi)n
&ormwor. for selfconsolidatin) concrete# there are man* )ood reasons to use$$$
!la- formwor. desi)n
3ut concrete is not a true fluid( and some method of evaluatin) the concrete4s actual pressure is needed$ 5valuatin) pressure has -een a si)nificant part of the wor. of ACI Committee
367( &ormwor. for Concrete$ As earl* as 1789( Committee 367 (then Committee :22% studied availa-le field measurements of lateral pressure on formwor. and used the data to develop
pressure formulas that could -e safel* used for form desi)n$ A report was pu-lished in 1789(1 and the formulas( with some modifications( were included in ACI4s first formwor. standard(
ACI 367:3$2 In the da*s -efore the advent of the personal computer( the committee considered it important to .eep the e+uations simple( reasonin) that this would encoura)e their use
and minimi;e mathematical errors$
,hese formulas were carried forward throu)h successive ACI standards until 2001( when accumulatin) data3 on lateral pressures ena-led the committee to introduce new coefficients
for unit wei)ht and chemistr* of the mi'ture( e'pandin) covera)e of the formulas to mi'tures with cement replacements( admi'tures( or -oth$ I wrote a-out those chan)es for CI readers
in <cto-er 2002$6 &urther modifications were issued in ACI 36706(8 however( and clarification of the present status ma* -e needed$ ,o avoid possi-le confusion( the formulas presented
here are )iven the same identif*in) num-ers as in ACI 36706$
3A!IC &<=/1"A
Althou)h the pressure at an* )iven point within the form varies over time( the desi)ner usuall* doesn4t need to .now the variation in detail$ >ence( the e+uations for lateral formwor.
pressure provide onl* the ma'imum to -e used for desi)n$
,he -asic formula is#
p ? wh (2$1a%( in$l- units
p ? @)h (2$1-%( !I units
&or the e+uation in in$l- units( p is the lateral pressure( in l-AftBsup 2BC w is unit wei)ht of the fresh concrete( in l-AftBsup 3BC and h is the depth in feet of fluid or plastic concrete from
the top of a placement to the point under consideration in the form$ &or the e+uation in !I units( p is the lateral pressure( in .PaC @ is the concrete densit*( in .)AmBsup 3BC ) is the
)ravitational constant of 7$91 DA.)C and h is the depth of fluid or plastic concrete in meters from the top of a placement to the point under consideration in the form$ If a form is filled
rapidl* -efore an* stiffenin) of the concrete ta.es place( h should -e ta.en as the full hei)ht of the freshl* placed concrete$ If multiple placements are to -e made( h should -e ta.en as
the distance -etween construction Eoints$ ,his formula is applica-le for all conditions other than those specificall* defined for the use of 5+$ (2$2%( (2$3%( and (2$6%$
C<"1/D &<=/ P=5!!1=5
&or the purpose of pressure determination( Committee 367 defines columns as elements with no plan dimension e'ceedin) :$8 ft (2 m%$
&or concrete with a slump of 7 in$ (178 mm% or less and placed in column forms with normal internal vi-ration to a depth of 6 ft (1$2 m% or less( ACI 36706 recommends the followin)
e+uation for calculatin) the ma'imum pressure pBsu- ma'B in l-AftBsup 2B (.Pa% to -e used for column form desi)n#
pBsu- ma'B? CBsu- wBCBsu- cB F180 7000=A,G (2$2%( in$l- units
$$$ (2$2%( !I units
with a minimum of :00Cw l-AftBsup 2B (30CBsu- wB .Pa%( -ut in no case )reater than 5+$ (2$1%$ CBsu- wB and CBsu- cB are the unit wei)ht and chemistr* coefficients shown in
,a-les 1 and 2( respectivel*C = is the rate of placement( in ftAh (mAh%C and , is the temperature of the concrete durin) placement( in H& (HC%$
2ith rapid placement and intensive vi-ration or with selfconsolidatin) concrete( it is possi-le to have concrete remainin) in a fluid condition for the full duration of the placement( in
which case the onl* theoretical pressure limit will -e as in 5+$ (2$1%$ Committee 367 didn4t have sufficient test data to develop separate provisions for selfconsolidatin) concrete$ A
num-er of studies have -een or are -ein) conducted for e'ample( =eference : -ut definitive results have *et to -e found$
2A"" &<=/ P=5!!1=5
&or purposes of pressure determination( ACI 36706 defines a wall as a vertical structural element with at least one plan dimension )reater than :$8 ft (2 m%$
ACI 36706 )ives two e+uations for wall form pressure$ As in the case of the column formula( -oth are applica-le to concrete with a slump of 7 in$ (178 mm% or less and vi-ration to a
depth of 6 ft (1$2 m% or less$ ,he first( 5+$ (2$3%( applies to walls with a rate of placement less than 7 ftAh (2$1 mAh% and a placement hei)ht of 16 ft (6$2 m% or less#
pBsu- ma'B ? CBsu- wBCBsu- cBF180 7000 =A,G (2$3%( in$l- units
$$$ (2$3%( !I units
,he second e+uation( 5+$ (2$6%( applies to all walls with a placement rate of 7 to 18 ftAh (2$1 to 6$8 mAh%( and to walls placed at less than 7 ftAh (2$2 mAh%( -ut havin) a placement hei)ht
)reater than 16 ft (6$2 m%$
pBsu- ma'B ? CBsu- wBCBsu- cBF180 63(600A, 2900 =A,G (2$6%( in$l- units
$$$ (2$6%( !I units
&or -oth 5+$ (2$3% and (2$6%( pBsu- ma'B should -e a minimum of :00CBsu- wB l-AftBsup 2B (30CBsu- wB .Pa%( -ut not )reater than 5+$ (2$1%$ 3ecause Committee 367 has
insufficient data on o-served pressure at hi)her rates( 5+$ (2$6% does not appl* for rates of placement )reater than 18 ftAh (6$8 mAh%$
/oreArticles of Interest
0eterminin) form pressures
1se updated wall pressure formulas
2all formwor. desi)n
&ormwor. for selfconsolidatin) concrete# there are man* )ood reasons to use$$$
!la- formwor. desi)n
A00I,I<DA" ID&<=/A,I<D
&or e'amples showin) how to appl* these formulas( refer to the 7th 5dition of ACI !P6( &ormwor. for Concrete$7 "ateral pressure calculations are also presented in the interactive
spreadsheet pro)ram made availa-le to ACI -* 2illiam C$ 5pstein( formerl* a Professor of Construction /ana)ement at California !tate Pol*technic 1niversit*( !an "uis <-ispo( CA$ ,o
use the spreadsheets( visit the Concrete Inowled)e Center atwww$concrete$or)( clic. on the JConstructionJ -utton( and clic. on the J&orm 0esi)n !preadsheetJ -utton$ ,hen )o down to
the -ottom of the pa)e and select J2alls$J
=eferences
1$ ACI Committee :22( JPressures on &ormwor.(J ACI J<1=DA"( Proceedin)s K$ 88( Au)$ 1789( pp$ 173170$
2$ ACI Committee 367( JACI !tandard =ecommended Practice for Concrete &ormwor. (ACI 367:3%(J American Concrete Institute( &armin)ton >ills( /I( 17:3( 82 pp$
3$ 3arnes( J$/$( and Johnston( 0$2$( J/odification &actors for Improved Prediction of &resh Concrete "ateral Pressures on &ormwor.(J Institute of Construction( 0epartment of Civil
5n)ineerin)( Dorth Carolina !tate 1niversit*( =alei)h( DC( <ct$ 1777( 70 pp$
6$ >urd( /$I$( JPuttin) the Pressure on &ormwor.(J Concrete International( K$ 26( Do$ 10( <ct$ 2002( pp$ 6788$
8$ ACI Committee 367( JLuide to &ormwor. for Concrete (ACI 36706%(J American Concrete Institute( &armin)ton >ills( /I( 2006( 32 pp$
:$ 3ill-er)( P$C !ilfwer-rand( J$C and Mster-er)( ,$( J&orm Pressures Lenerated -* !elfConsolidatin) Concrete(J Concrete International( K$ 27( Do$ 10( <ct$ 2008( pp$ 3862$
7$ >urd( /$I$( &ormwor. for Concrete (!P6%( 7th 5dition( American Concrete Institute( &armin)ton >ills( /I( 2008( 81: pp$
!elected for reader interest -* the editors$
ACI >onorar* /em-er /$I$ >urd is a mem-er of ACI Committees 126( Concrete Aesthetics( and 367( &ormwor. for Concrete$ !he has received numerous awards for her service and
contri-utions to ACI( includin) the ACI Construction Award (1792 and 1799%( the delmar "$ 3loem Award for distin)uished !ervice (1770 and 200:%( and the >enr* C$ ,urner /edal
(1778%$ ,he author of seven editions of ACI !P6( &ormwor. for Concrete( >urd is the first female recipient of the /arston /edal( the hi)hest award -estowed -* the Colle)e of
en)ineerin) at Iowa !tate universit*$
Cop*ri)ht American Concrete Institute Jun 2007
Provided -* ProQuest Information and "earnin) Compan*$ All ri)hts =eserved