My research work since my doctoral dissertation has focused on trying to predict the delayed behavior (of young age in the long term : hydration, drying, temperature, shrinkage, creep, cracking) of cementitious materials, from the description of the material at different scales, to arrive at a numerical model implanted in the finite element calculation code Cast3m, able to predict the deferred behavior of Civil Engineering structures.
The objective is to predict cracking and its effects on the durability, serviceability and service life of prestressed reinforced concrete structures. It also concerns sensitive structures for which cracking can induce an increase in the transport properties : permeability / diffusivity resulting in a potential increase in leakage of radioactive elements, LNG, water in the event of an accident or during operation (containment of reactor buildings of nuclear power plants, storage of radioactive waste, LNG tanks, water tanks, dams, tunnels), a risk of accelerated corrosion by carbon dioxide or chlorides (engineering structures) or disorders without structural consequences (façade mortar, paving, wall, either with "standard" concretes or concretes based on light or recycled aggregates).