Developing Mechanized Formwork: An Alternative to Single-Use Concrete Formwork Systems

This research reports on the development of a robotic formwork system for plastic construction materials such as fiber-reinforced concrete, liquefied mud, and concrete-stabilized mud mixtures. Contemporary developments in... [ view full abstract ]

This research reports on the development of a robotic formwork system for plastic construction materials such as fiber-reinforced concrete, liquefied mud, and concrete-stabilized mud mixtures. Contemporary developments in concrete formwork technologies are focused on eliminating the material wastes that are inherent in its use. New developments along these lines — including machined, re-usable wax formwork and a variety of formwork-free robotic placement methods — typically move concrete construction off-site into fabrication facilities where standards of control, worker safety, and production are significantly higher. In turn, these new factory-based methods are somewhat compromised by machine scale and material limitations; and through resultant building constructions that are overly-segmented/hybridized. The robotic formwork development described in this paper, however, keeps formwork on the building site. It addresses the material and economic wastefulness currently associated with sheet-based formwork by evolving the required technology beyond a parts-based disposable system, to a more robust semi-automated machine. This proposed formwork machine applies mechanization and computational control to the basic concept of formwork, enhancing qualities of variability and mobility that are already characteristic of contemporary sheet-based formwork systems that can be moved horizontally and vertically, and/or relocated on a construction site via heavy equipment (cranes). The resulting digi-mechanical formwork machine could potentially reduce significant placement, setup, and breakdown costs — and address serious worker safety issues associated with assembling traditional formwork systems in-situ. Robotic formwork could also enhance concrete’s unique capacity to respond to architectural form requirements with increased customization, variability, and material placement efficiencies. This robotic formwork can also be maintained, repaired, and used repeatedly, with the extended durability inherent in construction machines, on digitally-mapped construction sites, and/or in construction environments that restrict human laborers.