An experimental study on the lateral pressure of fresh concrete in formwork

Most of the accidents related to concrete formwork are triggered by improper construction operations and the unsound lateral pressure estimations detailed in concrete formwork specifications. In this study a series of experiments was conducted to reveal the effect of different factors on lateral pressure. The results show that concrete slump, casting speed, and vibration mode can greatly influence the pressure; and the data obtained in the experiments differ greatly from the values yielded by different specifications. A modification is proposed to the GB50666 specification in order to improve the accuracy and reliability of pressure estimations.