Canada Research Efforts

Research currently being conducted in Canada is under the direction of Professor Mark West, Director of the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (C.A.S.T.) at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Professor West and his architectural students at C.A.S.T. first began exploring the use of flexible formwork for precasting concrete wall panels in 2002 [1, 2].

Research work at C.A.S.T. by Mark West and his students has been the most innovative and pioneering effort this writer has seen to date. Their research centers on the development of new technologies for forming concrete structural members using fabric formworks. See the introductory Research page for examples and the C.A.S.T. website for additional information.

This 2010 research study by Farhoud Delijani was conducted to investigate and document the changes in concrete strength and overall quality due to use of commercially available woven polyolefin fabrics. Excerpts from his research may be found here and his complete paper here.

[1] West, M., (April 2002), “Prestressed Fabric Formworks for Precast Concrete Panels”, Materials Technology Workshop, Department of Architecture, University of Manitoba, Canada., Web address: http://www.umanitoba.ca/cast_building/resources.html
[2] West, M., (April 2004), “Prestressed Fabric Formwork for Precast Concrete Panels”, Concrete International Vol. 26(4), pp. 60-62.

The Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (C.A.S.T.)