Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259

Effects of drainer formworks on concrete lateral pressure

Metin Arslan*
Gazi University, Technical Education Faculty, Construction Education Department, 06500 Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey

Received 4 May 2001; accepted 17 April 2002

Abstract

This study focused on how formwork surfaces affected concrete lateral pressure when surface drainage was provided and their
surfaces were covered with liners. Seven forms were constructed using different surface materials. On the surfaces of three forms,
drainage was provided and different types of geotextile liners were used. The other forms were used as references. For comparison,
the lateral pressure of concrete was calculated by ACI 347. Concrete was placed into the forms and the lateral force of concrete
on the form surface was measured by a strain gauge measurement system. It was concluded that the concrete lateral pressure
could be decreased by some 40% using a drainer system on the formwork surface and covering the surface with liner. 䊚 2002
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Concrete; Formwork; Geotextiles and liners

1. Introduction develops significant shear strength, settling vertically

In cast-in-place reinforced concrete building construc-
tion, formwork expenses can be 50% of the total cost
of the reinforced concrete structure w1x. Formwork must
support all loads (dead, imposed, environmental and
other loads) that may be applied until these loads can
be carried by the concrete structure itself. Determining
the lateral pressure on formwork surfaces and variables
influencing the pressure has been an important issue
w2,3x.
Generally, in normal construction practice, concrete is
placed in 1 m layers and compacted using poker-type
vibrators, which are immersed into only the top 1 m of
the concrete. Fig. 1 shows a representation of the placing
of a wall. In this figure, concrete is placed to a depth
of 1, 2 and 3 m, respectively. In each case, the vibrator
is immersed 1 m into the concrete. In the first case, the
concrete is completely fluidised and the lateral pressure
is hydrostatic (Fig. 1a). In the second case, the effect
of a vibrator will extend below the vibrator and a 2 m
depth of concrete will be fluidised, giving hydrostatic
pressure (Fig. 1b). In the last case, the lower concrete
*Fax: q90-312-2120059.
E-mail address: marslan@tef.gazi.edu.tr (M. Arslan).
under load and developing friction between the concrete
and the form surface (Fig. 1c) w4x.
Over the years, investigators have investigated various
factors that affect the lateral pressure of fresh concrete
on vertical forms. These factors have included: the rate
of placing the concrete; temperature of the concrete;
concrete mix proportions; consistency of the concrete;
consolidation method of the concrete; impact during
placing; size and shape of the formwork; amount and
distribution of the reinforcing steel; unit weight of the
concrete; height of the concrete; ambient air tempera-
ture; smoothness and permeability of the formwork;
pore water pressure; and the type of cement w5,6x.
As a result of these studies, empirical equations have
been proposed to calculate the lateral pressure of fresh
concrete against formwork surfaces. Some of the equa-
tions generally used are given below.
ACI Committee 347 proposes the equation given
below. For concrete made with Type I cement, weighing
2400 kgym3, containing no pozzolans or admixtures and
having a slump of 10 cm or less, formwork may be
designed using this equation w7x. In addition, for form-
work design purposes, the lateral pressure envelope
should be hydrostatic up to the limiting value given by
Eq. (1) w8x.

0950-0618/02/$ - see front matter 䊚 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 0 - 0 6 1 8 Ž 0 2 . 0 0 0 2 5 - 9
254 M. Arslan / Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259

For walls with RF2 myh: temperature at placing are the essential factors to cal-
culate lateral pressure.
Ps7.2qŽ785R.yŽTq17.8. ŽkPa. (1)
Ps21q5R (kPa) for stiff mixes (3a)
with a maximum of 95.8 and a minimum of 28.73 kPa,
but in no case for greater than 23.5 h, where: Ps19q10R (kPa) for soft mixes (3b)
h: height of fresh concrete above point Ps18q14R (kPa) for fluid mixes (3c)
considered, m
P: lateral pressure, kPa where:
R: rate of placement, myh P: lateral pressure, kPa
T: temperature of concrete in the form, 8C R: rate of placement, myh

The density of the concrete, vibration, size of member

CIRIA proposes the lateral pressure equation given
being formed, temperature of concrete, rate of concrete
below. This equation involves consideration of: the
pour, slump of concrete, superplasticiser, fly ash, slag
formwork size and shape; constituent materials of the
cement, admixture and pumped concrete can be consid-
concrete; concrete density; formwork height; vertical
ered significant to the lateral pressure problem w4x.
pour height of the concrete; rate of concrete pour; and
Recent experimental studies conducted on drainer form-
concrete temperature at placing w9x:
work with a sucker liner shows that concrete cast in a
B E drainer formwork with liners have better durability and
PsDDC1yRqC2KyHyC1yRG
C F
ŽkPa. (2a) surface properties than concrete cast in an ordinary
P:DH ŽkPa. (2b) formwork w11,12x.
However, it is apparent that there are no variables
where: which relate to the formwork surface properties (such
C 1: coefficient depending on the size and shape of as drainer formwork surface with a liner or any other)
formwork (s1.0 at the wall) in the equations, although it is expected that when
C 2: coefficient depending on the constituent concrete is placed in a drainer formwork with liner, the
materials of concrete (s0.3–0.6) water content of concrete will decrease, and consequent-
D: density of concrete, kgym3 ly the lateral pressure of concrete should be lower.
H: vertical formwork height, m Formwork cost is inevitable in reinforced concrete
h: height of fresh concrete above point construction. If the lateral pressure can be reduced using
considered, m a drainer formwork with a liner, the cost of the formwork
K: temperature coefficient of taken as w36yŽTq can be reduced. In addition, it is known that this type
2
16.x of formwork improves the durability of the concrete
P: lateral pressure, kPa surface layer.
R: rate of placement, myh The aim of this study was to study the effects of a
T: temperature of concrete in the form, 8C drainer formwork with a liner on the lateral pressure of
fresh concrete.

DIN 18218 presents a series of equations to calculate 2. Experimental details

the limiting lateral pressures of internally vibrated con-
crete of various mobilities at a concrete temperature of In order to measure concrete lateral pressure, seven
15 8C w10x. The rate of concrete pour and the concrete wall formworks with dimensions of 100 cm in width,

Fig. 1. Development of lateral pressure envelope.

 M. Arslan / Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259 255

Fig. 2. Project of wall formwork.

200 cm in height and 15 cm thick were constructed
(Fig. 2). Three of seven formworks were made of
Populus nigra timber, Pinus silvestris timber and steel
sheet, and the remaining four were made of plywood.
2.1. Materials
The Populus nigra timber used had 12.10% moisture,
a density of 397 kgym3 and annual ring thickness of
5.09 mm. The Pinus silvestris timber had 12% moisture,
a density of 485 kgym3 and annual ring thickness of
2.75 mm. Steel sheet was chosen according to EN 10111
w13x. Beech plywood had 10.90% moisture and a density
of 672 kgym3.
Four types of geotextile were used as liners. These
were: geotextile I (non-woven; weight, 0.500 kgym2;
tensile strength, 1.260 kN; break-off stretch, 56%; and
penetration resistance, 0.915 kN); geotextile II (non-
woven; weight, 0.130 kgym2; tensile strength, 0.208
kN; break-off stretch, 15%; and penetration resistance,
256 M. Arslan / Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259
Fig. 3. Design of strain gauge plate and strain measurement system by a computer based data logger.
0.190 kN); geotextile III (non-woven; weight, 0.200
kgym2; tensile strength, 0.286 kN; break-off stretch,
29%; and penetration resistance, 0.225 kN); and geotex-
tile IV (non-woven; weight, 0.200 kgym2; tensile
strength, 0.260 kN; break-off stretch, 30%; and penetra-
tion resistance, 0.220 kN) w14x. Geotextiles I and II
were used as Type I formwork liners and the others
were used separately as Type II and Type III liners.
The concrete mix was made from Type I cement,
natural sand (0–3 mm), crushed sand (3–7 mm) and
crushed coarse aggregate (7–15 mm), using mix pro-
portions of 1:1:1.4:1.75 (by weight) with a cement
content of 350 kgym3, a waterycement ratio of 0.58
w15x, and no pozzolans or admixtures. The concrete was
batched in a concrete plant. A concrete pump was used
for placement and the concrete was sampled at the
discharge line for slump and density tests. Slump and
density of the concrete were measured as 10 cm and
2400 kgym3, respectively.
2.2. Preparation of samples
One side of each form was fixed to a welded sup-
porting structure to make it stable during the concrete
pouring process. The other surface of the formwork was
mounted with a pin at its upper point to allow it to
rotate. The bottom part of this rotatable surface was
mounted on ball bearings to minimise friction, as shown
in Fig. 2, and a drainage system was used on the
surfaces of the three plywood forms. The drainer system
consisted of channels and holes. The channels, 4 mm in
width and depth, were provided horizontally and verti-
cally at a spacing of 100 mm. At the intersection of the
channels, 4 mm-diameter holes were drilled. The surfac-
es of these forms were covered with Type I liner
(geotextile Iqgeotextile II), Type II liner (geotextile
III) and Type III liner (geotextile IV).
2.3. Lateral pressure experiment
To measure the lateral pressure exerted by the fresh
concrete against the form surfaces, two strain gauge
plates were designed for each test (as shown in Fig.
3b). Each strain gauge plate used a full bridge config-
uration with four gauges (10 mm long, y10% transverse
sensitivity, 120"03 V resistance), as shown in Fig. 3c
w16x. The strain gauge plates were calibrated by applying
known forces. For each strain gauge plate, a regression
formula (given in Appendix A) was developed between
the applied force and the corresponding strain value.
Strain gauge plates were mounted on each bottom side
of the formworks, as shown in Fig. 2, and the full
bridge circuits were connected to a computer-based data
logger via a switching box, as shown in Fig. 3a.
All seven wall forms were cast at the same time. The
concrete was placed as two layers by pump. Each layer
 M. Arslan / Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259 257

Table 1 Table 2
Temperature measured during lateral pressure experiment Value of lateral pressure of concrete on formwork surface

Measurement conditions Temperature (8C) Formwork number and Lateral pressure (kPa)
Concrete Air Surface process Mean Min. Max
During concrete placement 22 25 F1 Populus nigra (reference) 20.93 19.14 21.88
1 h after concrete placement 28 23 F2 Pinus silvestris (reference) 19.91 18.01 21.15
3 h after concrete placement 32 18 F3 Plywood (reference) 25.54 22.48 25.96
6 h after concrete placement 32 18 F4 Steel sheet (reference) 26.19 24.70 26.97
F5 Plywood (Type I liner) 19.60 18.28 20.34
F6 Plywood (Type II liner) 17.05 14.62 18.17
was compacted by a poker vibrator at three points. The F7 Plywood (Type III liner) 14.78 12.91 15.63
rate of concrete placing was 1.0 myh. The temperature Values for ACI-347
of the air and the concrete were measured during Calculated 26.92
placing, and at 1, 3 and 6 h after pouring; the values Limiting 28.73
measured are given in Table 1.
Immediately after the completion of concrete placing, discussion of the experimental results, these two groups
strain measurement was started. A total of 252 strains of values were compared to each other and a group
were measured for 464 min and recorded on the data reference was chosen from them to compare with the
logger. These measurements were taken from all 14 lateral pressures measured for forms with a drainage
strain gauge plates (for all seven forms at the same liner. In addition, data from lateral pressure experiments
time). Measurements were taken: for 10 min at 6 s were analysed by multiple comparison of variance anal-
intervals; for 45 min at 30 s intervals; for 65 min at 4 ysis and graphics.
min intervals; and for 344 min at 8 min intervals.
However, changes between measurements were evalu-
3. Results and discussions
ated and the changes at 8 min intervals were observed
to be significant. Therefore, data analysis was performed
on 58 strain values, which were measured for 464 min Table 2 summarises the lateral pressure values meas-
at 8 min intervals. ured for the concrete lateral pressure experiment in the
In this experimental study, the concrete placing con- 464th min, the lateral pressure calculated by Eq. (1) for
ditions are same as the conditions for ACI-347 Eq. (1) ACI-347 and the limiting value for ACI-347. Table 3
and Fig. 1b. As can be observed in Fig. 1b, the lateral shows results of multiple comparison of variance of the
pressure envelope is triangular. Thus, maximum lateral lateral pressure values.
pressure is expected to occur at the bottom of the The temperatures during lateral pressure measurement
formworks, i.e. on the strain gauge plates, as shown in are given in Table 1. While the concrete temperature
Fig. 2. varied between 22 and 32 8C, the air temperature varied
Assuming the lateral pressure distribution to be tri- between 25 and 18 8C.
angular, the following formula was used in calculating The value calculated by the ACI-347 equation was
lateral pressure on the form surface: 26.92 kPa and the limiting value was 28.73 kPa. In the
464th min, the lateral pressure (maximum lateral pres-
PsPs1qPs2 ŽkPa. (4) sure) was 21.88 kPa in test F1 (Populus nigra), 21.15
kPa in test F2 (Pinus silvestris), 26.97 kPa in test F4
where:
P: lateral pressure, kPa
Table 3
Ps1: lateral pressure for first strain gauge plate of a Results of multiple comparison of lateral pressure data
formwork, kPa
Ps2: lateral pressure for second strain gauge plate Formwork number and comparison of Formwork
of a formwork, kPa differences
Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Number Pressure
(kPa)
By considering the concrete specifications and con-
crete placing conditions as explained before, lateral 1 S* S* S* S* S* S* 7 14.78
2 S* S* S* S* S* 4 15.63
pressure (P) values were calculated using Eq. (1). This 3 S* S* S* S* S* S* 6 17.05
value calculated was compared with the limiting value 4 S* S* S* S* S* S* 5 19.60
of ACI-347 used as a reference. In addition, lateral 5 S* S* S* S* S* 2 19.91
pressure values measured for (undrained and unlined 6 S* S* S* S* S* S* 1 20.93
formworks) Populus nigra, Pinus silvestris, steel sheet 7 S* S* S* S* S* S* 3 24.55
and plywood forms were also used as references. In the S*: the mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
258 M. Arslan / Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259
Fig. 4. Variation of lateral pressure with elapsed time.
(steel), 20.34 kPa in test F5 (plywood, Type I liner),
and 15.637 kPa in test F7 (plywood, Type III liner), as
shown in Table 2.
It was observed that in the reference forms the largest
pressure was 26.97 kPa in test F4 (steel). The smallest
pressure was 21.15 kPa in test F2 (Pinus silvestris).
The pressure values for F1 (Populus nigra, 21.88 kPa)
and F2 (Pinus silvestris, 21.15 kPa) were approximately
equal. The pressure value for F4 (steel, 26.97 kPa) and
the ACI-347 calculated value (26.92 kPa) were approx-
imately equal (Table 2).
For the lateral pressure values of plywood forms (F5,
F6, F7) with drainers and liners, the largest pressure
was 20.34 kPa in test F5 (plywood, Type I liner) and
the smallest was 15.63 kPa in test F7 (plywood, Type
III liner) (Table 2).
The lateral pressure values recorded for all formworks
continuously increased during the 464 min measurement
time (Fig. 4). However, the increase showed differences
according to form type. It is thought that this increase
in lateral pressure was caused by swelling of the concrete
during setting time. In addition, water absorption of
wooden form surfaces caused some swelling of these
forms. Although concrete swelling was the same, swell-
ing of the form surfaces was not the same in all cases
because of differences in the surface material of the
forms. Because of this, the increases in lateral pressure
were different.
It was observed that there was a significant difference
between the average lateral pressure values of F5, F6
and F7 (plywood, with drainage liner), and F1, F2, F3
and F4 (Populus nigra, Pinus silvestris, plywood and
steel sheet) formworks. The maximum lateral pressure
values for F5, F6 and F7 formworks were smaller than
those for F1, F2, F3 and F4 reference forms. Among all
formworks, F7 (plywood, with type III liner) had the
smallest lateral pressure value (Table 2).
According to the calculations, by taking the lateral
pressure of F1–F2 (Populus nigra–Pinus silvestris), F3
(plywood) and F4 (steel) forms, and the limiting value
of ACI-347 as a reference, the F7 (plywood, Type III
liner) formwork had approximately 28% less lateral
pressure than the lateral pressure of F1–F2, 40% less
than that of F3, 42% less than that of F4 forms, and
46% less than the limiting value for ACI-347.
4. Conclusions
Using type I cement, with no pozzolan or admixture,
 M. Arslan / Construction and Building Materials 16 (2002) 253–259 259

a concrete density of 2400 kgym3, slump of 10 cm, Glossary

concrete temperature of 22–28 8C, air temperature of
25–18 8C, and a placement rate of 1.0 myh as condi- C1 coefficient depending on the size and shape of formwork
tions, it was observed that maximum lateral pressure C2 coefficient depending on the constituent materials of concrete
D density of concrete, kgym3
values for drained and lined formworks were smaller H vertical formwork height, m
than the values for reference forms and the limiting h height of fresh concrete above point considered, m
value of ACI-347. In addition, it was observed that K temperature coefficient, taken as w36y(Tq16)x2
values of the lateral pressure of concrete on formwork P lateral pressure, kPa
R rate of placement, myh
with drainage and a type III liner were:
Ps1 lateral pressure for first strain gauge plate of a formwork, kPa
Ps2 lateral pressure for second strain gauge plate of a formwork,
– 28% less than the lateral pressure of concrete on kPa
wood-surfaced (Populus nigra, Pinus silvestris) T temperature of concrete in the forms, 8C
forms;
– 40% less than the lateral pressure of concrete on
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