What FORMSOFT calculates
FORMSOFT is software for the design and anchoring of construction formwork, covering the whole formwork system: from the facing to the tie rods and the anchorage into the concrete. It is intended for structural engineers, formwork designers and site managers responsible for the pour.
What sets it apart is that it does not treat the formwork as ancillary equipment. Formwork design often falls between the cracks — it is not part of the structural design and not part of the bill of quantities — and FORMSOFT treats it as a structural system in its own right, with a standard, loads, members and anchorage.
Project details and standard — SI 904, SI 466 and EN 1992-4
The calculation opens with the project details and the choice of standard. FORMSOFT is based on the Israeli standards SI 904 and SI 466 and on EN 1992-4 — and the fresh concrete pressure on the formwork is calculated to SI 904 §B.2.2.2.1. These three standards cover three different parts of the same problem, and anyone who splits them across three separate tools has to carry results by hand between different sets of assumptions. Here they run on the same data.
The formwork system, the formwork type and the facing
The definition continues across three adjacent modules: the formwork system, the formwork type, and the facing. The distinction between them matters — the formwork system is the frame that carries, the formwork type determines how it is assembled, and the facing is what takes the concrete pressure directly and passes it on. A design that skips the facing misses the first element in the load path.
Wall and pour geometry — including a curved wall in a closed ring
The geometry module defines the wall and the pour. Alongside it sits a dedicated module for a curved wall — a closed ring, the case in which the formwork closes on itself and the concrete pressure acts outwards around the full perimeter. This is fundamentally different from a straight wall, and it gets its own treatment rather than an after-the-fact adjustment of a straight-wall calculation.
The concrete and the pour — SI 904 §B.2.2.2.1
The concrete and pour module is the heart of the design, and it refers explicitly to SI 904 §B.2.2.2.1. The pressure of fresh concrete on the formwork is not a constant: it depends on the mix, on the rate of pour, and on what happens to the concrete while it is still fluid. FORMSOFT points to the clause of the standard that governs it, so that the value entering the calculation can be verified against the text and not only against the screen.
The tie rods, the base and the walers
The tie rods are what hold the two faces of the formwork against one another under the concrete pressure, and they have a module of their own. Alongside them the base and the walers are defined. These three together are the load path from the facing to the supports and on to the anchorage — and FORMSOFT defines each of them separately instead of deriving one from another.
Slabs and props, column clamps and repeat pours
FORMSOFT includes a second module for slabs and props, which covers horizontal formwork and not walls alone. A column clamp module — in place of tying — covers columns in which the clamp takes the place of the tie rods. And a module for repeat and climbing pours covers a system that is struck and re-erected above the previous pour, that is, the re-use of the formwork up the building rather than a single pour.
The output carries the project details and the standard chosen, alongside the definition of the formwork system, the formwork type and the facing, the wall and pour geometry, the concrete and pour data to SI 904 §B.2.2.2.1, the tie rods, the base and the walers, and the modules for slabs and props, column clamps and repeat pours — everything that was entered, in one document.
Scope
This software applies to construction in Israel only. It is written to the Israeli standards SI 904 and SI 466, and the calculator interface itself is in Hebrew.