Fabric-Formed Concrete Panel Design

Concrete wall panels have traditionally been cast using a rigid formwork. Straightforward methods of analysis and design are available for the traditionally cast concrete wall or floor panel. This is not so for the panel cast in a flexible fabric formwork. To date, no design procedures or methods to predict the deflected shape of a fabric cast panel have been developed. This paper introduces a design procedure that allows one to design a fabric cast concrete panel. A four-step procedure for analytically modeling a fabric formwork is developed employing the structural analysis program ADINA to analyze the formwork and the concrete panel cast in it. The final panel form, function and performance of the fabric membrane and the reinforcement of the panel for design loads all add to the complexities of the panel's analysis and design. Analytical modeling and design techniques presented in this paper will allow the design community another way to express themselves using a flexible fabric formwork. No longer will designers feel constrained by the limitations imposed by using a rigid formwork.