Charts aid in design of horizontal formwork

Select plywood decking, joists, and stringers; find shore loadings; all without lengthy calculations
BY PAUL H. SOMMERS CHIEF ENGINEER ALGERNON BLAIR INCORPORATED MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

HOW TO USE THE DESIGN CHARTS FOR HORIZONTAL FORMS

Start in the upper left-hand corner. The dotted line shows a sample problem which has already been worked out. 1. DETERMINE LOAD ON THE FORMS. Enter the upper left section of the chart at the top with desired slab thickness (Point A) or at the bottom with a predetermined design load (Point B). NOTE: If you use the slab thickness, this chart automatically provides for the construction live load and weight of forms. 2. CHOOSE PLYWOOD THICKNESS. Three choices of plywood thickness are available12, 58, and 34 inch. Draw a vertical line from Point A or Point B to intersect the curve for the desired plywood thickness at Point C. 3. FIND JOIST SPACING. Draw a line straight across from Point C to intersect the curve for the chosen plywood in the upper right chart at Point E. This line crosses the first chart boundary at Point D, where we read the plywood span. THIS IS ALSO THE MAXIMUM JOIST SPACING. 4. SELECT A JOIST AND FIND ITS SPAN. From Point E draw a line down to intersect the curve for the desired size of joist. Six choices here range from 2x4 to 4x6. The intersection is Point F. Now extend the line across to the left until it intersects a curve representing the combination of joist and plywood already selected. In the example shown by the dotted line, 34inch plywood and 4x4 joists were chosen. The new intersection is Point H. Go back along this horizontal line to Point G where it crosses the chart border and read the maximum joist span. THIS IS ALSO THE STRINGER SPACING. 5. SELECT THE STRINGER AND FIND ITS SPAN. In the lower left-hand chart, find the curve representing the desired stringer. Choices range from a single 4x4 to a double 2x10. Draw a line straight down from Point H to intersect the desired stringer curve at Point K. From this intersection extend the line across into the lower right chart until it intersects the curve for the same stringer size at Point N. (In the sample shown, a double 2x8 stringer is being used.) At Point M where the line crosses the chart boundary, read the maximum span of the stringers. THIS IS ALSO THE MAXIMUM SPACING OF THE SHORES. 6. FIND THE SHORE LOAD. From Point N draw a line straight down to the bottom of the chart and find the shore load at P. Numbers must be multiplied by 100 pounds to get the actual load. For the usual 4x4 dressed post shore of Southern yellow pine or Douglas fir, it is desirable to limit the load to 4000 pounds. If it goes above 4700 pounds, crushing of the stringers can be expected. The chart gives LOAD APPLIED TO THE SHORE BY ONE FLOOR OF CONCRETE AND FORMS. For shore design in multistory work, a larger load must be considered because of loading from several stories above. Consult Formwork for Concrete for more details plus bracing recommendations.

ormwork design can be simple and straightforward when the designer understands the fundamental structural requirements of each member making up the forming system. Each piece of wood or plywood in a deck forming system must meet standard limits for bending, deflection, and shear. Once these requirements are met, a structurally sound forming system can be built. By doing design calculations for commonly used sizes and grades of materials and combining the results in a series of charts like those presented here, we can avoid tedious recalculations and get some answers in a few minutes. These charts are much like the ones published by CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION in April (page 392), except that they cover formwork for horizontal instead of vertical structural members. The charts provide a quick reference and were developed especially with the smaller contractors in mind. They will also be valuable to the estimator who is preparing bids for formwork, and they will help the contractor or engineer in preparing or checking formwork shop drawings. The charts for supported horizontal formwork provide enough information to choose the following for the average forming system, using materials of the quality indicated later in the text. Plywood thickness Joist spacing Joist size Stringer size Stringer spacing

 Shore spacing Load imposed on shores (for multistory work, load from the chart is multiplied by 1.5 to comply with ACI 347-78) The drawing shows how these members are arranged in a simple slab forming system.

tions as possible without making them complex and unreasonable. They are in compliance with the ACI formwork standard (ACI 347-78). Most of the data for the charts were taken from Formwork for Concrete.

DESIGN STANDARDS AND STRESSES

Listed below are the working stresses and some other assumptions used in preparing the charts.

BRACING AND LACING MUST BE ADDED

Bracing and lacing needed for lateral stability are not included in the charts. THEY MUST BE PROVIDED, to meet OSHA and local code re q u i re m e n t s. We recom-

Plywood sheathing
Plywood is assumed to be continuous over four or more supports, and it is used the strong waythat is with face grain parallel to the span. Deflection is limited to 1360 of the plywood span, but never is allowed to exceed 116 inch. Bending stress f = 1930 psi Rolling shear vr = 80 psi Modulus of elasticity E = 1,500,000 psi These are the stresses recommended by the American Plywood Association for Class I concrete form grade of plywood, based on short-term loading.

Lumber or timbers
Parts of typical wood formwork for slabs, often described as a stick-built system. The span of the sheathing sets the spacing for the joists, which pick up load and transmit it to the stringers. Support requirements of the joists determine the allowable spacing of the stringers. In turn, the span of the stringers between supports determines where the shores go. Shore and bracing design is not covered in the charts of this article. mend that they also comply with Section 2.3.2 of the American Concrete Institute formwork standard, ACI 347-78. The lateral bracing must be able to resist wind loads and other lateral loads. ACI recommends a minimum of 2 percent of the dead load on the form, distributed evenly along the slab edge, but not less than 100 pounds per lineal foot of slab edge. Lacing (hori zo n t a l ties) is needed to maintain alignment and reduce the unsupported length of tall shores. The wood members are assumed continuous over two or more spans. Allowable stresses used in preparing the charts are suitable for use with No. 2 Douglas firlarch subject to repeated usage or for No. 2 Southern pine which will have only limited reuse. Bending stress f = 1500 psi Ho ri zontal shear H = 140 psi Modulus of elasticity E = 1,700,000 psi Six joist and six stringer choices are provided for horizontal forms. Deflection is limited to 1360 of the span, but never is allowed to exceed 14 inch.

CONCLUSIONS
Formwork for Concrete, ACIs Special Publication No. 4, provides many design tables which reduce working time in the preparation of formwork shop drawings. However, design charts like those presented here can cut down further on the math needed for design of forms and reduce most calculations to simple arithmetic. If the materials being used are significantly different in quality from those whose properties are shown here, another set of charts will be required. It is hoped that this chart approach will help the craftsman or small contractor to build forms with some engineering logic, and not just by guess and rule of thumb.
Editors note: Information in this article was condensed from a talk, Simplified Design of Formwork, presented by Paul H. Sommers at a seminar on quality concrete construction sponsored by the ACI Kansas and Missouri Chapters at the ACI Convention in Kansas City, September 27, 1983. A draft of the origi-

PRECAUTIONS NEEDED IN MULTISTORY WORK

If these charts are used for slabs in a multistory building, the user is cautioned that the shore loadings shown are for only one floor. In multistory buildings, shores may carry load from several floor levelssometimes as much as three times the weight of a single floordepending on the particular building cycle. Refer to Form work for Concrete, ACI Special Publication No. 4, for more details.

BASIS FOR THE CHARTS

Some compromises were made in setting up the design charts to take care of as many situations and op-

nal talk, including equations used to develop the design charts, is available from Concrete Construction Publications, 426 South Westgate, Addison, Illinois 60101. Cost of the complete talk is $3.00, payable in advance. Formwork for Concrete, by M. K. Hurd, referenced by Mr. Sommers, is also available from Concrete Construction Publications. Cost of the 464-page illustrated book is $43.45, and it contains the complete text of the ACI Standard 347-78.

PUBLICATION #C840648
Copyright 1984, The Aberdeen Group All rights reserved