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One of the most cost effective and efficient methods of casting precast panels is to stack cast – a system employed onsite for many years.

 However traditionally precast construction on steel casting tables was carried out with cumbersome and heavy steel edgeform sections which did not lend themselves to stack casting. Because of this, the casting of single individual panels on the casting table became the mindset and tradition. A panel would be cast and then sufficiently cured before being lifted off the table before the same casting area could be used again.

This process severely limits the casting area or space, increases downtime (in waiting for cast concrete panels to cure sufficiently so they can be lifted off the table), and forces the constant changing of tools and equipment, between formwork and erection gear, to clean the tables after every panel.

Attempts to overcome these drawbacks have required huge capital outlay and the installation of extremely expensive and complex plant and equipment.

For example huge, high energy ovens were installed to cure panels faster so they could be removed, allowing the valuable real estate to be reused sooner. Expensive concrete additives were added to try and achieve the same. Another example is the extremely expensive “Tilting” tables which are installed to place the panels in a more vertical plane to enable an earlier lift time. All this is huge infrastructure solely for the purpose of trying to lift the panel off the casting bed earlier.

However why lift after every pour?

What if the panels are stack cast instead and thus don’t requiring lifting after every pour but only after every 3rd or 4th or 5th or even 6th pour?

If 6 panels are cast on top of each other then the table only has to be cleaned “once” for every 6 panels and there is only one change from manufacture to lift gear. There is no shortage of real estate as the same area once used for one panel now holds six panels.

However the most important feature of stack casting is the saving of production downtime because each cast panel only needs to achieve sufficient cure strength for an operator to walk on it (instead of needing to reach actual lift strength). This means if a panel is cast in the morning - by midday is has been power trowel finished and sufficiently cured enough to allow the next panel to be cast on top of it.

Hence two panels can be cast on top of each other in a single day - effectively doubling production capacity without the need of expensive rapid setting chemicals, curing ovens, and even slow and expensive tilt tables. No need for a huge capital outlay. All that is needed is a stack casting system!

SRB Systems have the only TRULY comprehensive stack casting systems that can be used both onsite and in a precast yard.

Download SRB Precast Stack Casting.pdf (7MB)

Bolt to the table Tiltform Buttress Frames

Tiltform Buttress Frames are simply bolted to the edge of the precast table allowing for panels to be simply and easily stack cast on top of one another. The process is the same as that for site casting – please refer to the Tiltform System in the Sitecast section.

Magnet Fix Buttress Frames

Coming soon.