An IoT device for striking of vertical concrete formwork

Abstract

Purpose

Timely 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/approach

An 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.

Findings

The 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 implications

The 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/value

This paper is the first attempt to determine the minimum striking time of vertical formwork using IoT-based technology.

Citation

John, S.T., Mohan, A., Philip, M.S., Sarkar, P. and Davis, R. (2022), "An IoT device for striking of vertical concrete formwork", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 1991-2010. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-10-2020-0859