Professional Documents
Culture Documents
60-73
1729
1730 jOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE December 1963
About 5 days later the shores under Slab 'p-2' will be removed (Op-
eration B) and the force formerly in these shores will be distributed
between Slabs 'p' (5 days old) 'p-1' (12 days), and 'p-2' (19 days).
The formwork, which weighs about 10 percent of the slab it is sup-
porting, is assumed in this analysis to be included in the self weight of the
slab. The transport of formwork from one level to another has only
minor effect on the shore loads above those specified in Operations A
and B. It has no effect on the loads carried by the slabs according to
the principal assumption simplifying this analysis.
This assumption is that the shores are infinitely rigid in comparison
with the slabs in vertical displacement. For steel shores this is quite
justified, since the contraction of the shores under unit load is quite
minute compared with the deflection of a slab under the same load,
except for a small region at column heads. Timber shores have a flexi-
bility large enough to modify the load distribution between slabs sig-
nificantly, but the results for rigid shores remain instructive and, it
appears, a conservative guide to the loads actually obtained. The be-
havior of timber shores and the mathematical complications of the inter-
action of the slab stiffness with shore stiffness have been dealt with
thoroughly by Neilson. 1
It is also assumed that the shores are spaced close enough to treat the
shore reactions as a distributed load. With rigid shores all slabs con-
nected by shores deflect identically. A load applied to the system is
therefore distributed between the slabs in proportion to their relative
flexural stiffnesses. To demonstrate the analysis, the flexural stiffness
will be assumed to be constant for all slabs, and the effect of flexural
stiffness increasing with age will be considered subsequently.
Paul Grundy is a design engineer, Hardcastle & Richards, consulting structural and civil
engineers, Melbourne, Australia. At the time this paper was written, Dr. Grundy was an
engineer with the Victorian Branch of Civil and Civic Pty., limited, Melbourne. In 1959 he
obtained an MS degree from the University of Melbourne for his research on ultimate
strength of triangulated steel frames. For further research on struts at Cambridge, England,
he received his PhD.
A. Kabaila is a lecturer, Civil Engineering Department, University of New South Wales,
Sydney. Prior to his current position, Professor Kabaila was chief engineer, Victorian Branch of
Civil and Civic Pty., limited, Melbourne, and before that appointment he was a lecturer at
the Royal Melbourne Technical College. Professor Kabaila obtained a Master's degree at the
University of New South Wales for his work on folded plates. This paper was written while
Professor Kabaila was employed at the Victorian Branch of Civil and Civic Pty.
Above Level 4 the loads steadily converged on the cycle shown at the
end of Fig. 1, with a maximum load factor of 2.00 in the bottom slab
aged 21 days.
If the analysis is repeated using two or four levels of shores ( m = 2 or
4) it will be found that the maximum loads are always carried by the
last slab cast before the shores at ground level are removed. When m = 2,
the absolute maximum factor is 2.25 at 14 days, and when m = 4 the
absolute maximum is 2.43 at 28 days.
In each case (in fact, for any number of shored levels) the loads
converge on a cycle in which the bottom slab of the shored system
has a load ratio of 2.00, which is reached by equal increments for each
Operation A and B.
It is evident from this analysis that increasing the number of levels
shored leads to no reduction at all in the average maximum construction
loads on the slabs. The absolute maximum actually increases with an
increasing number of levels shored. However, the age of the slab at
which these maxima occur also increases, so that the increase in con-
crete strength may well offset the extra load as a design consideration.
1. 00
.
I
'-J
w
N
0c
AI
;.1 ,..~
0·12
z
:.~ ···~
O·IS 1. 04 1 ·IZ I· 00
0. 89 I· Sl 1·36 >
r
l•ll. I • II 1 •78 2 ·36
,0
§ §
0. 66 O·U 0· 77
1 ·00 l·lJ I·U 1. 71
2 ·00 0 0. 3l -l
0 1•.0.0 1 • 33 1. 00 I
3. 00 m
>
~
Time, day~ 21 26 21 33 31 •o 42 17 19
Converged solution m
AI
Fig. 1-Analysis assuming constant Eo and m = 3 n
>
z
()
0
z
()
.~ '"~
0. 69 AI
0. 98
m
:
0. 62 -l
. 00 I. l8 0· 71 m
0. 71 1·32 1·71
1 ·00 I· 29 I· 06 z
V1
0 ·57 1. 37 2. 0 1· 00
-l
1·00 1•13 0 •92
1. 08 =i
··~
O·U 1. 00
'"~ : . ~
0 ·87 1•16 1 ·31
1·92
c
!ool
-l
8B
, ·19 1·H 1· 61 2·31 rn
0 ·12 0•11 0·53 O· 18
1 ·03 1. 37 1 ·53 1· II
2 ·00 0 •09 O·U
0 1• 09 1·41 1 ·00 1· 00
3 ·00
,0
Time, days 21 26 28 33 31 40 •z 17 u Converged solution
,n
3
0"
Fig. 2-Analysis assuming variable Eo and m = 3 ~
-o-
' ()
w
SLABS WITH SHORED FORMWORK 1733
1'!!. ~
0
j::2
-
MAXI UM AI
< ~
IX:
~·
if
~~
9
21 u 21 211 t•
•
AGE, DAYS
)&_
" AGE, DAYS
21
AGE, DAYS
28 JS
would reduce the maximum load ratio. The discrepancy is due to the
much wider assumed variation of Ec, which disagrees with experimental
evidence. In actual tests on a multistory building under construction
using a 14-day slab cycle and a timber shoring system corresponding to
m = 2, the maximum load ratio observed in the first two levels was 2.08.
The principal effect of increasing the value of m is to increase the age
of the slab at which this maximum load is applied. If the self weight of
the slab is a high fraction of the total load that the slab is to carry in
service, it will usually happen that the construction loads are critical
in all aspects of the slab design. For example, a 10-in. slab in a flat
plate office building using three levels of shores in construction, will
have th& loads in construction and in service (see Table 1).
If the slab had been only 6 in. thick the loads in service would be
greater than those in construction, and no allowance for construction
loads would have to be made in the design.
The question now arises: What allowances should be made for the
construction loads if these exceed the subsequent loads in service?
To answer this it is necessary to separate the two principal require-
ments which the structure must satisfy during construction. These are
the same as at any age of the structure, viz., an adequate safety margin
and permanent deflections within accepta!ble limits.
DESIGN CONSIDE.RATIONS
Although the load ratio obtained by elastic analysis is somewhat
greater than 2.0, different load distribution would take place before a
flexural failure could occur. The development of full plastic moment
in the slab, which permits the use of yield line theory in ultimate
strength analysis of slabs, also permits the redistribution of loads through
the redundant shored system of construction. Before collapse can take
place in Operation A, the load of m +
1 slabs is therefore distributed
between m slabs in proportion to their available strengths. Such an
argument would lead to more favorable -load distribution to that derived
---'~~~----------------------~------
SLABS WITH SHORED FORMWORK 1735
l l
2
MAXI
""
1\_ ~ 2
lo4 X!t.IUM
r---
r- t----
1\~ ; j
Cl
<(
0...J
1-
\""
I'
AVERA E
""-J
[A ERAGE
zw I'
...J
,, O+--Lr-~r-~---+--~
~
0
21 2 0 7
- " -21 2 0 14 -.. 21 21
OTHER FACTORS
Creep is an important component of the total slab deflection as well
as an important means of load redistribution when local stresses are
high. It is not clear, subject to further research how creep rates compare
in concrete of early age with 28-day concrete. Odman, in calculating
the theoretical loads for Neilson 1 held that creep could be neglected
because high early creep rates were offset by low early stresses in
the slabs, leading to an approximately constant creep rate in all slabs.
This seems to be a reasonable assertion that this stage of knowledge of
creep.
The method of stripping formwork is significant since most methods
require removal and replacement of the shores a few at a time. It is
usual for the shores to be replaced with only a light compressive force
in them to hold them in place. Later, with shores being replaced around,
this force will increase again, but the general effect of stripping form-
work by this method is to reduce the loads on the slabs beneath and
to increase the loads by a corresponding amount on the slabs above.
Having regard to the highest loads occurring on the slab supporting the
lowest level of shores this effect could be beneficial if not carried to
excess. A systematic control of the forces in the shores using torsion
wrenches or some similar means could be used if economy in design
justified such strict constructional control.
Lacking such systematic control it is reasonable to assume the theoreti-
cally derived loads. The maximum loads which occur in one slab only
may be lower than the theoretical values because of the relief provided
by replacing the shores and the flexibility of the foundations, which were
assumed rigid in the analysis. This reduction requires experimental
verification before assuming it happens.
SLABS WITH SHORED FORMWORK 1737
SHORINC FORCES
While the shores rest on rigid foundations, they support the entire
structure. Thereafter shoring forces can be readily calculated from the
loads carried by the slabs. An inspection of the three construction sys-
tems reveals that the maximum load transmitted by a level of shores
when m = 2 is 1.24 times the self weight of a slab plus formwork. The
maximum factor is 1.56 when m = 3, and 1.92 when m = 4. Furthermore,
there is no consistent reduction in shoring forces in the lower levels of
a system of shores, from which it is concluded that the shores should
be evenly distributed throughout, or at least sufficient at all levels to
carry the factored loads indicated.
CONCLUSIONS
Construction loads in a concrete structure in which the upper floors
are shored from the lower floors may exceed design loads for service
conditions by a considerable margin and should not be ignored in de-
sign. Analytical determination of such loads, as has been demonstrated
in this paper, does not present great difficulties. The effect of such
construction loads on design may be summarized as follows:
Flexural strength
Because of potential load redistribution, flexural strength may not be
a critical factor in design for construction loads.
Deflection
If the deflections are to be limited the maximum construction flexural
stresses should be limited without taking the load redistribution into
account. The limitation should preferably be the same as for stresses
under working loads with reductions appropriate to the age of the
concrete.
ACKNOWLEDCMENTS
The authors wish to thank L. Blakey and other members of the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization at the Building Research Divi-
sion, Highett, Victoria, for confirming the development of E. and f.' with age,
and for helpful discussions.
1738 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE
- December 1963
REFERENCE
1. Neilson, Knud E. C., "Loads on Reinforced Concrete Floor Slabs and their
Deformations During Construction," Bulletin No. 15; Final Report, Swedish
Cement and Concrete Research Institute, Royal Institute of Technology, Stock-
holm, 1952.
Received by the Institute Feb. 4, 1963. Title No. 60-73 is a part of copyrighted Jo~rnal of the
American Concrete Institute, Proceedings V. 60, No. 12, Dec. 1963. Separate prints are
available at 50 cents each, cash with order.
American Concrete Institute, P. 0. Box 4754, Redford Station, Detroit, Mich. 48219
Baulasten in einem Betonbau, bei dem die oberE:n Stockwerke von den uriteren
abgestiitzt werde:n, ki:innen die Konstruktionsbelas-tungen erheblich iiberschreiten.
Es wird eine Methode angegeben, urn diese Baubelastung fiir tragerlose Decken-
konstruktionen zu bestimmen. Die Wirkung des Stiitzens verschiedener Stock-
werke und die Wirkung der Baubelas-tung auf den Entwurf werden ebenfalls
eri:irtert.