Study Details Scc Formwork Pressure Factors, Over-Design Tendencies

“Evaluation of SCC Formwork Pressure” offers contractors and engineers tools and test methods to predict and decrease self-consolidating mixes’ effect on formwork

Source: RMC Research & Education Foundation, Silver Spring, Md.

Evaluation of SCC Formwork Pressure offers contractors and engineers tools and test methods to predict and more accurately define self-consolidating mixesÌ effect on formwork. The final study, available as a 22-page executive summary download at the RMC Research home page, examines the impact that material constituents, mix designs, placement factors, formwork geometry, and temperature have on SCC-exerted pressure.

A lack of knowledge surrounding SCC mix mechanics has prompted contractors and engineers to design formwork to withstand full hydrostatic pressure, per ACI 347R-03 guidelines, note University of Sherbrooke/Department of Civil Engineering’s Kamal Khayat, Ph.D, and A. Omarn, Ph.D. candidate. That tendency increases construction costs and potentially offsets labor and equipment economy practitioners have realized with SCC mixes, the study authors add.

Sherbrooke, Purdue University, Northwestern University and CTL Group staff developed lab and field SCC mix test methods and performed related research and engineering calculations leading to Evaluation of SCC Formwork Pressure. RMC Research & Education Foundation and the American Concrete Institute Strategic Development Council co-funded the work.

An important aspect was the development of practical guidelines for lowering lateral pressure and creation of a comprehensive report on SCC, says Foundation Chairman Jim Repman. For a research project to be truly successful, he adds, Sometimes a stand-alone report isnÌt enough. You need helpful tools, specific guidance and practical ways to encourage contractors and engineers to utilize the new information in the field .