12-11-2014, 09:59 AM
Abstracts: Rapid urbanization has resulted in drastic increase in housing demand today. The traditional or conventional method of construction for mass housing is comparatively, a slow process and has limited quality control, particularly when a large size project is involved. It is therefore obligatory to work out a method or a scheme where the speed and quality of construction are controlled automatically by a systematic approach. Many methods have emerged and have been tried out and are still being adopted all over the world. These systems can be named as large-panel system, part pre-cast and part in-situ construction etc. ? Despite the enormous need for housing, India has not yet been able to practice any of these methods with advantage and economy. The initial obstacles being requirement of huge element of machinery, inadequate scope of compared to huge inputs, composite construction failing on account of extreme atmospheric conditions, not adhering to strict quality control and having tendencies to cut corners for saving on costs, etc. Therefore Aluminium Formwork System (AFS) identified to be suitable for Indian conditions for mass housing construction where quality and speed can be maintained at a reasonably high level. This paper deals with the necessity, components and advantages of aluminium formwork system. It also compares the AFS with conventional method.