FSW of Concrete Formwork


Friction Stir Welded Aluminium Panels for Pouring Concrete into the Desired Shape

Friction stir welding (FSW) is used all over the world for making aluminium panels for concrete formwork. The adavantages of friction stir welded formwork are light weight and minimal distortion at attractive manufacturing cost. Kumkang Kind in Korea was in 2015 one of the first companies that published a video about their proprietory manu­fac­turing process.[1]

   

Friction Stir Welding of Aluminium Formwork at Kumkang Kind (video starts at 0:38 min, if you click the screen shot)

 4:00 © Kumkang Kind Co Ltd, 3 November 2015

   


MFE Formwork, based in Malaysia, industrialised Friction Stir Welding (FSW) in 2011 to boost orders of aluminium formwork for concrete, allowing the company to increase its production rate by 50 per cent. MFE worked closely with TWI, when it implemented FSW.

   

MFE contacted TWI again, when it decided to manufacture its formwork entirely by FSW. TWI put together a three-stage work programme in 2016, consisiting of a procedure development study at TWI in the UK, on-site training in Malaysia, and machine testing and commissioning in Taiwan.[2]

   

Aluminum concrete formwork for rapid housing construction including the deck and roof for a housing project in Chile 

© Wall - Ties & Forms, Inc.,  4. Jun. 2008, CC BY-SA 3.0

 

Using aluminium for re-usable formwork is getting more and more popular, as shown on Wikipedia.

 

GETO® Aluminium Formwork System & Scaffolding in China uses aluminium 6061-T6 extrusions to produce FSW-Formwork.[3]

 

References

  1. Total Formwork Solutions Provider: Global Kumkang Kind. Formwork System Catalogue. Page 7.
        
  2. TWI delivers FSW support for formwork specialist.
       
  3. GETO® Aluminium Formwork System & Scaffolding. Page 9.