Formwork Pressure Exerted by Self-Consolidating Concrete (SCC)

SCC is a flowable concrete that can placed without consolidation. Due to lack of knowledge on SCC lateral pressure on formwork system, its use in cast-in-place applications have slowed down. This prompts contractors and engineers to design for full hydrostatic pressure, which increases construction cost made of SCC. This work focussed on capturing existing knowledge and undertakening experimental program to evaluate lateral pressure developed by SCC. A portable devise for measuring lateral pressure and its rate of decay, test methods (portable vane and inclined plane tests) for field evaluation of relevant plastic and thixotropic properties of SCC that affect formwork pressure were developed. Identifying role of material constituents, mix design, concrete placement characteristics (casting rate, waiting periods between lifts, casting depth), temperature, and formwork characteristics that influence formwork pressure of SCC were examined in laboratory and validated by actual field measurements. Effective ways to reduce lateral pressure of SCC were reported through developing formulation expertise and practical guidelines, and proposing prediction design equations.