Civil engineering: EDF needs for concrete modelling

Concrete structures which are encountered at EDF, like all civil engineering structures, age. In order to adapt the maintenance conditions of these structures, particularly to extend their service life, and also to prepare constructions of future structures, tools for predicting the behaviour of these structures in their environment should be available. For EDF the technical risks are high and consequently very appropriate R and D actions are required. In this context the Direction des Etudes et Recherches (DER) has developed a methodology for analysing concrete structure behaviour modelling. This approach has several aims: - making a distinction between the problems which refer to the existing models and those which require R and D; - displaying disciplinary links between different problems encountered on EDF structures (non-linear mechanical, chemical - hydraulic - mechanical coupling, etc); - listing of the existing tools and positioning the DER 'Aster' finite element code among them. This document is a state of the art of scientific knowledge intended to shed light on the fields in which one should be involved when there is, on one part a strong requirement on the side of structure operators, and on the other one, the present tools do not allow this requirement to be satisfactorily met. The analysis has been done on 12 scientific subjects: 1) Hydration of concrete at early ages: exothermicity, hardening, autogenous shrinkage; 2) Drying and drying shrinkage; 3) Alkali-silica reaction and bulky stage formation; 4) Long term deterioration by leaching; 5) Ionic diffusion and associated attacks: the chlorides case; 6) Permeability / tightness of concrete; 7) Concretes -nonlinear behaviour and cracking (I): contribution of the plasticity models; 8) Concretes - nonlinear behaviour and cracking (II): contribution of the damage models; 9) Concretes - nonlinear behaviour and cracking (III): the contribution of the probabilistic analysis model; 10) Delayed behaviour of concrete (CREEP); 11) Allowing for reinforcement and prestressing; 12) Dynamic behaviour: seismic effects, shock analysis. (authors)