An IoT device for striking of vertical concrete formwork

Abstract

PurposeTimely removal of formwork is one of the crucial aspects of construction management that directly influences the safety and quality of the structure as well as the economy of the project. Code recommendations in this regard are not widely practiced because of the difficulties in their implementations. Also, such code recommendations are not robust for all the possible construction conditions. The present paper proposes an IoT-enabled system that notifies the minimum striking time of vertical formwork based on a specified target compressive strength.Design/methodology/approachAn IoT device is proposed for the timely removal of vertical formwork by monitoring of early age concrete compressive strength in real-time. The maturity method is utilized for this purpose. The implementation of the proposed system is demonstrated on three concrete columns. The proposed system is found to be suitable for any construction condition.FindingsThe proposed system is a novel, cost-effective, IoT-enabled real-time monitoring system which includes features like cloud connectivity and remote monitoring. This system can be easily implemented at the site without any human intervention.Practical implicationsThe study explores the development of an IoT device for the timely removal of vertical formwork which will ensure quality, safety and productivity in concrete construction.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt to determine the minimum striking time of vertical formwork using IoT-based technology.

Formwork Engineering for Sustainable Concrete Construction

“…Form stripping, or striking, is a critical step in the construction process of concrete structures. It involves removing the formwork after the concrete has gained sufficient stability and strength to carry its own weight and any additional loads during construction [97]. Stripping must be carried out very carefully to ensure the quality of the concrete structure and the safety of workers [98].…”

“…This allows the lower portions of the formwork to continue supporting the concrete as the upper portions are removed. The strength requirement for the form stripping of vertical members is that they should be able to carry their selfweight and only small additional loads, which typically implies a compressive strength of 2-10 MPa [97,106]. There are, however, studies demonstrating that a compressive strength of 1.5 MPa is sufficient for the form stripping of vertical columns without risking damage or deformations [76].…”

Real-time monitoring of early-age compressive strength of concrete using an IoT-enabled monitoring system: an investigative study

“…In investigations conducted on the maturity method to date, researchers have proposed various maturity functions [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39], some of which have been documented in numerous standards and guidelines [40][41][42][43][44][45]. Devices for measuring maturity, such as thermocouples and wired temperature and maturity loggers, as well as Internet of Things (IoT)-based systems (cloud computing platforms linked to wireless sensors), may be used to monitor the strength of concrete [4,18,46,47]. The drawbacks of conventional maturity meters include manual operation onsite and the requirement of a software for data extraction.…”