Temporary Structures CM 420

Slab Form Design

Lecture 5
Temporary Structures CM 420
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Slab formwork
Parts of typical slab formwork
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Slab formwork
Design Steps:
Step 1: Estimate design loads
Step 2: Sheathing thickness and and
spacing of its supports (joist spacing)
Step 3: Joist size and spacing
of supports (stringer spacing)
Step 4: Stringer size and span (shore
spacing)
Step 5: Shore design to support stringers
Step 6: Check bearing stresses
Step 7: Design lateral bracing
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Slab form Example
Design forms to support a flat slab floor
8 in. thick of normal weight concrete,
using construction grade Douglas Fir-
Larch forming members and steel
shoring. Ceiling height is 8 ft. and bays
are 15x15 ft. Since forms will have
continuing reuse, do not adjust base
design values for short term load.
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Slab form Design Example
STEP 1: ESTIMATE LOADS:
Dead load, concrete and rebar,
[8 in. / (12 in./ft.)]x 150 pcf = 100 psf
Minimum construction live load on forms
50 psf (refer to lecture #1)
Weight of forms, estimated
8 psf

Total form design load
100 + 50 + 8 = 158 psf
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Slab form Design Example
STEP 2: SHEATHING DESIGN:
Assuming 3/4-in. form grade plywood
sheathing, from Tables 4-2 and 4-3:
F
b
= 1545 psi
F
S
= 57 psi
E = 1,500,000 psi
S = 0.412 in.
3

I = 0.197 in.
4

I b/Q = 6.762 in.
2

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Slab form Design Example
STEP 2: SHEATHING DESIGN:
Tables 4-2 and 4-3, for plywood:
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Slab form Design Example
CHECK BENDING
For design purposes, consider a 1-foot-wide
strip of plywood. Then:
lb/lf 158 ft. 1 psf 158 of load design = = w
in. 0 . 22
158
412 . 0 1545
95 . 10 =

= l
w
fS
l 95 . 10 =
Substituting in the equation:
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Slab form Design Example
CHECK DEFLECTION
For A = l/360:
For A = 1/16:
in. 8 . 20 1870 69 . 1
158
197 . 0 1500000
69 . 1 69 . 1
3
3 3
= =

= =
w
EI
l
in. 2 . 21 1870 23 . 3
158
197 . 0 1500000
23 . 3 23 . 3
4
4 4
= =

= =
w
EI
l
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Slab form Design Example
CHECK ROLLING SHEAR
For design purposes, consider a 1-foot-wide
strip of plywood. Then:

since V
max
= 0.6wL , so:
Ib
VQ
F
S
=
inches 48 or ft. 0 . 4 762 . 6
158 6 . 0
57
6 . 0
=

= =
Q
Ib
w
F
L
S
Ib
Q
wL
Ib
VQ
F
S
= = 6 . 0
Q
Ib
w
F
L
S
=
6 . 0
Substituting in above equation:
or:
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Slab form Design Example
From the above calculations, l = 20.8 in.
governs.
Meaning that joist supports CANNOT
be more than 20.8 inches apart.
HOWEVER, in order to select the span,
we must consider the size of the
plywood sheets and equal spacing of
supports.
In this case, 5 equal spaces of 19.2
inches on an 8-ft. wide plywood sheet
will be appropriate.
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Slab form Design Example
STEP 3: JOIST SIZE AND SPACING OF
STRINGERS TO SUPPORT THE JOISTS:
Check 2x4 construction grade Douglas-Fir-
Larch as joist (forms are used repeatedly, so
there is no short-term load adjustment).
From Table 4-2: F
b
= 1000 psi and F
V
= 95 psi
and should be adjusted for horizontal shear
by a factor of 2. E = 1,500,000 psi.
psi 190 95 0 . 2 = =
'
V
F
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Slab form Design Example
From Table 4-1B, for S4S 2x4s: bd = 5.25 in.
2
,
I = 5.36 in.
4
, and S = 3.06 in.
3

psf load, design
ft. in. 12
in. spacing, Joist
= w
lf lb 253 psf 158
ft. in. 12
in. 19.2
= = w
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Slab Form Design Example
CHECK BENDING
in. 1 . 38
253
06 . 3 1000
95 . 10 95 . 10 =

=
'
=
w
S F
l
b
CHECK DEFLECTION
For A = l/360
in. 5 . 53 67 . 31 69 . 1 31778 69 . 1
253
36 . 5 1500000
69 . 1 69 . 1
3
3 3
= = =

= =
w
EI
l
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Slab Form Design Example
CHECK SHEAR
Using the horizontal shear stress formula
for a uniformly loaded continuous beam
(similar to calculations on page 19):
|
.
|

\
|
=
12
2 9 . 0 d
L
bd
w
f
V
|
.
|

\
|

= =
12
5 . 3 2
25 . 5
253 9 . 0
190 L f
V
ft. 69 . 4 3 . 25 37 . 43 190 = = L L
Or L = 4.69x12 in./ft. = 59.5 inches
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Slab Form Design Example
Comparing the three spans
calculated above, l = 38.1 inches
governs.
Considering 15x15 ft. bays and
desire for uniform spacing, 36 inch
spacing is a reasonable number.
This means that the spacing of
stringers will be at 5 equal spaces
per bay.
( ) feet 15 inches 180 6 3 5 = =
' '

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Slab form Design Example
STEP 4: STRINGER SIZE AND SPAN:
Use 4x4 Construction grade Douglas-Fir-
Larch stringers. From Table 4-1B for S4S
4x4s: bd = 12.25 in.
2
, I = 12.50 in.
4
, S = 7.15
in.
3
; and d = 3.5 in.

lf lb 74 4 psf 158
ft. in. 12
in. 36
psf form, on load
ft. in. 12
in. spacing, Stinger
= = = w
CHECK BENDING
in. 5 . 42
474
15 . 7 1000
95 . 10 95 . 10 =

=
'
=
w
S F
l
V
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Slab Form Design Example
CHECK DEFLECTION
For A = l/360
in. 6 . 57 07 . 34 69 . 1 39557 69 . 1
474
50 . 12 1500000
69 . 1 69 . 1
3
3 3
= = =

= =
w
EI
l
CHECK SHEAR
Use the horizontal shear stress formula for
a uniformly loaded continuous beam:
12
2
9 . 0

12
2 9 . 0 d
w
bd F
L
d
L
bd
w
F
V
V
+
'
=
|
.
|

\
|
=
'
in. 4 . 72 ft 03 . 6 58 . 0 45 . 5
12
5 . 3 2
474 9 . 0
25 . 12 190
= = + =

= L
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Slab Form Design Example
From the above calculations, l = 42.5 in.
governs.
Meaning that stringers CANNOT be
more than 42.5 inches apart (span of
stringers).
HOWEVER, in order to select an
appropriate span, we must consider the
dimensions of the bay.
The 15-ft. bay could be divided into 5
equal spaces of 36 inches (180/5 = 36)
which is less than the maximum
allowable span of 42.5 inches.
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Slab Form Design Example
Alternatively, we can check the possibility
of using a deeper stringer, i.e. 3x6, in
order to increase the shore spacing.
Since bending is dominant here, we will
check bending for a 3x6 member.
For S4S 3x6s from Table 4-2: F
b
= 1000 psf,
and from Table 4-1B, S = 12.60 in.
3

in. 4 . 56 16 . 5 95 . 10
474
60 . 12 1000
95 . 10 95 . 10 = =

=
'
=
w
S F
l
b
Now we can use 45-in. support spacing for
the 3x6 stringers, which will divide the bay
into 5 equal spaces.
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Slab form Design Example
STEP 5: SHORE DESIGN:
Stringers are placed 36-inches apart,
supported by shores spaced 45 inches
apart. The area of support for each shore
is:
( ) ( )
2
ft. 25 . 11 12 / 45 12 / 36 Area = =
lb. 1778 psf 158 ft. 25 . 11
2
=
Then the total load per shore is:
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Slab form Design Example
Schematic design:
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Slab form Design Example
Refer to Table 7-11 for wood shoring
material. Both 3x4 and 4x4 are more
than adequate to carry 1778 lbs for an
effective length of 8 ft.
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Slab form Design Example
Step 6: Check Bearing Stresses:
Bearing should be checked where
stringers bear on shores and where
joists bear on stringers.
Stringers bearing on shore:
Assume the head piece of the adjustable
steel shore is 11x3 5/8". The 3x6 stringer
is actually 2 in. thick.
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Slab form Design Example
If the headpiece is placed parallel to
the stringer, bearing area is 2x11 0r
28.75 in.
2
. Bearing stress will be:



This is well below the base F
c
, which
is obtained from Table 4-2 (the value of
compression to grain, F
c
, for No. 2
24 Douglas Fir-Larch is 625 psi).
psi 62
75 . 28
1778
area bearing
load shore total
~ =
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Joist bearing on Stringers:
The two members are 1 and 2 in. wide.
Contact bearing area = 2x1 = 3.75 in.
2

Average load transmitted by joist to stringer is:
Joist spacing x joist span x form load

Slab form Design Example
lb. 758 158
12
36
12
2 . 19
=
psi 202
in. 75 . 3
lb 758
2
=
Bearing at this point is also low relative
to the 625 psi base value for F
c
.