FORM LINING MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION: Form liners are the liners used in the preparation of designs on concrete walls. The use of form liners often results in more attractive walls for highways, neighborhoods, beaches and parks. Form liners come in many different shapes and designs, and can produce a variety of different results on concrete. A form liner panel is placed on the inside of a concrete forming system before the concrete has been poured and acts as a mold for the concrete to be formed against. Once the concrete has set, the forming system can be removed and the form liner can be stripped from the hardened concrete surface. The resulting concrete surface is permanently textured with the pattern of the form liner. TYPES OF FORM LINING MATERIALS: There are several different types of form liners, which vary based on the application. Single-use form liners are usually made of styrene plastic and are normally discarded after the first use. Multi-use form liners are usually made of ABS plastic and range in number of uses from 2 to 10 or more. Multiple-reuse form liners are usually made of polyurethane, a heavy rubber material known for its reusability and used frequently by departments of transportation on sound walls, bridges and other applications. Other form liner materials used can include polystyrene foam, fiberglass, and even aluminum-- styrene plastic, ABS plastic, and urethane are considered to be the industry standard, and are most often specified in plans by architects and engineers. The form liners are attached to forms and concrete is placed against the liner. The liner pattern is transferred into the wet concrete. After the concrete has cured, the liner is stripped and the unique sculpture is exposed.

FRP (Fiber glass form lining): FRP lining is treated as a significant application in the fibre glass industry because of the vivid application, like leak proofing of roof tops, tank lining in chemical industries, reinforcement/manufacturing of PVC-PP chemical tanks, anti corrosion treatment of metal tanks etc. Using our special grade resins could attain various properties. The high-grade resins that we develop can withstand the impacts of strong acids and high temperature. The same is used in the chemical industries as protective layers for chemical storage. ELASTOMERIC RUBBER (URETHANE): Elastomeric means a material that is stretchable from a point within itself in all directions. Mostly for form liners that means urethane rubber. Plastic is flexible but not stretchable." This stretchable quality allows elastomeric liners to create nearly any surface texture imaginable and even allows some undercut textures. Form liners made with the casting face of urethane rubber are the longest lasting, with 100 or more reuses possible and can be produced with patterns as deep as 5 inches. Within the category of urethane liners, there are some manufacturers who have different grades. "Even what we call our single-use liners have a urethane facing and are cast in the same mold as those that will withstand many uses. For some applications, the contractor intends to use the liner only once. So we cut down on the thickness of the urethane facing and use a lower grade of plywood backing. They still aren't as cheap as plastic liners but are about half the price of our high reuse liners." PLASTIC: Plastic form liners are typically made using a vacuforming process. Plastic liners can be single-use or can go up to 15 reuses, depending on how thick the plastic is and what type of plastic is used. A Fitzgerald Form liner makes plastic form liners of styrene for single use applications, like tilt-up panels, or from ABS for cast-in-place uses. Fitzgerald also makes an extruded plastic form liner for applications where the designer wants long sections without seams, but this only works with ribbed patterns.

Plastic form liners are easy to handle because they are very lightweightas little as 0.4 pounds per square foot, compared to an average of about 6 pounds for elastomeric liners. A wide variety of plastic patterns are available, although the more typical plastic form liners are those used for ribbed patterns. Plastic patterns can't achieve the deep relief of rubber liners (maximum is about 1 inch) and can't get the sharp detail of elastomeric. Allowable form pressures (controlled by pour rate) are lower with plastic liners600 to 750 psf. For deeper plastic patterns, wood strips are often added behind the liner to provide added support. POLYSTYRENE OR POLYPROPYLENE FOAM Styrofoam can be used in formed concrete as a block out to create various patterns or even logos. To make that work, however, it must be waterproofed. One clever technique is to form patterns with Styrofoam then to actually melt the foam out with acetone when stripping. Styrofoam single-use form liners are also available in rock patterns. One fairly recent addition to form liner technology is expanded polypropylene liners. Produced in roughly 3x3-foot panels, these liners are very lightweight and will last from 6 to 8 pours. They are easy to trim to size with a utility knife or a circular saw. To install, they are nailed to the forms with finish nails or attached with double-backed tape. Cost for these liners is $8.00 per square foot. FIBERGLASS Fiberglass form liners were once quite popular, but are seldom used today since elastomeric liners are simpler to make and perform as well for most applications. "Fiberglass is slowly getting outdated,". "We had a fiberglass liner not too long ago with 8-inch relief. That's a great application for fiberglassanything over 3 inches, but I haven't seen one in 3 or 4 years. It's an old technology but we still offer it because every once in a while someone wants it."