Technical Training Report

Five day FDP (Faculty development program) on Concrete Formwork and Staging conducted at VJTI, Mumbai, from 28th March till 1st April2013

Brief of the program :A five day technical training course on topic Concrete Formwork and Staging was organised by Structural engineering Departments of VJTI from 28th March till 1st April2013 as a part of their faculty development program. The venue was Mechanical Engineering Dept. Conference hall. About 45 participants attended the session, inclusive of senior Professors, assistant and associate professors, lecturers, Ph.D., M.Tech and B.Tech students. The program was open for practicing engineers from the industry also. About 6 executives from the industry (private and government together) attended this session. Being funded by VJTI it was free for all teaching staff but had nominal fees for practicing engineers. Organisers had also arranged a residential facility for the outside participants. In the present report the details of this session are briefly explained.

About VJTI : Veermata Jeejabai Technical Institute (VJTI), formerly known as Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, Matunga, Mumbai, is one of the pioneering institutes in Mumbai involved in imparting engineering education since past 126 years. VJTI has courses in various branches of engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, IT, etc.) at various levels, like, diploma, degree, post-degree and doctoral level program. VJTI was established in 1887. It started with only two departments, namely the Sir J. J. School of Mechanical Engineering and the Rippon Textile School. In 1913, the Institute was recognized by then Government of Bombay as the Central Technological Institute, Bombay Province. In addition to other departments, a department of Sanitary Engineering and Plumbing was added in 1923. The department started Licentiate in Civil & Sanitary Engineering programme. VJTI is spread over a sixteen acre campus at Matunga, a prime location at Mumbai. The present structure consists of a central administrative building around which the buildings for housing other department have been constructed from time to time. The central building consists of the main administrative offices, the library and auditorium. The dome of the building remains the most distinctive feature of the campus. Hostel facilities exist for about 550 boys and 90 girls.The Institute is reputed for excellent training in Engineering and Technology at Diploma, Degree, Post Graduate levels and Research. Presently VJTI offers B. Tech programmes in nine core disciplines of engineering. 16 M. Tech. programmes, M.C.A. and Ph.D. programmes in various engineering disciplines. Since the time of inception, VJTI has been playing a very vital role in producing quality engineers, introducing new programmes, and electives in emerging areas. In 1998, the Institute was renamed from its old name Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute to its present name Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute. The Institute is affiliated to University of Mumbai it was one of the fourteen institutes selected by the Central Government for further development with grant-in-aid from the Centre under Technical

Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP - I & TEQIP - II). In 2004, VJTI received administrative, academic, financial and managerial autonomy. About Structural Engineering Department The Structural Engineering department was established in the year 1960. This department deals with the fields of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering. The department also caters to the needs of the other departments in the core subjects of Applied Mechanics and Strength of Materials. All the Structural Engineering subjects for the B.Tech program in Civil Engineering are also handled by this department. The department conducts the Postgraduate Degree Program of M.Tech. Civil Engineering with specialization in Structural Engineering. This department has also started the Doctoral Progarmmes. This department has a rich tradition of carrying out a large amount of consultancy work. The dept. has also successfully completed STTP's & FDP's from time to time. About the Programme :- Objective There are different types of temporary structures used as enablers for constructing permanent structures. Some examples of such structures are concrete formwork, scaffolding, falsework / shoring etc. The purpose of formwork is to support its own weight and that of freshly placed concrete as well as the construction live loads including materials, equipment and workmen. Falsework is the temporary structure erected to support the work in the process of construction. It is composed of shores, formwork and bracing. The main requirements of formwork are its quality, safety and economy. Therefore material selection, planning and design of formwork needs to be carefully worked out for any project. Due to complications of shapes and forms, the formwork design poses a challenge to engineers The programme will cover all these finer aspects in the planning, design and execution of formwork in details. Many failures in formwork and centering have led to serious accidents on construction sites. With the advent of segmental construction of bridges, the design of launching girders etc have become very important. These design procedures will also be discussed in this programme. With the help of interesting case studies, the programme aims at training the participants towads a proper and safe design of formwork and falsework. 1. To review basic principles of formwork design 2. To understand design, planning and execution of formwork and falsework. 3. To discuss case studies of formwork design for complicated forms and structures. 4. To understand bridge erection techniques. Topics for discussion 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Introduction to principles of structural engineering with their applications to formwork design. Discussion on design, planning and execution of formwork along with tutorials. Case studies of horizontal and vertical formwork design. Bridge erection techniques. Case study of formwork for special forms like shells etc. Formwork for segmental construction

Speakers : Mr. Vivek Abhyankar, AFCONS. Dr. M.A Chakrabarti, Professor, Structural Engineering Department Activities, VJTI. Mr. Dipak Kulkarni, Consultant, Mumbai.

and Dean Student

(Up) Live discussion happened during the session (Right) Examples solved during session

(up) Live case studies on formwork being disucssed Contents of the Program :The various essions and the topics covred are as listed in table below :Sr. No. 1 2 Session Basic of Structural Analysis Why training is required in formwork Contents Various structural forms used in formwork / staging Methods of structural analysis of these forms Advances in Formwork as on today Changing situations at construction sites Queen of concrete Ms. M. K. Hurd and her book on formwork popularly called Green Bible of Concrete Principle of learning What is mistake, why mistakes happen, what to learn from them Case studies showing how the mistake becomes failure Various codes for Formwork design Loads acting on Formwork (Lateral pressure)

Learning Mistakes

from

our

Design of Formwork

Design of Staging

Planning of Formwork

7 8 9 10

Effective execution of Formwork Truth and myths related to formwork Failure case studies Innovation in Formwork and system (patent) formwork

Estimation of pour rate Analysis of Formwork Design and Detailing Effect of Finish requirements Design Examples 1. horizontal formwork 2. Vertical formwork 3. Timber and steel formwork 4. Circular formwork 5. Tall and short formwork How to fabricate pipes Types of staging Testing the staging pipes Dos and Donts Classification of formwork types Principles which govern the selection of formwork Type of structures Case studies Costing of Formwork Good practices and bad practices in formwork / concrete at site Discussion on various practices. 8 reasons of formwork failures and the cases studies on each reason of failure. Various systems New aspects / innovative ides

(Up) senior participants sharing their views

(right) examination in progress

At the end of the program participants were given a post test on the topics covered during training program. This also helped to check the effectiveness of the training session. Conclusion : Formwork (being a temporary / enabling item) has been neglected by construction professionals. It is also never taught is colleges. But it is evident to note that the large number of construction failures that happen at site are due to failure of formwork / staging. In the five day program most of the participants agreed this fact and also could learn new dimensions to the formwork. The participants were gifted with a book on Formwork by author Dr. Jha published by McGraw Hill publishers. All the participants realised and agreed to study the topic in more detail for further understanding of the topic. ***