Analysis of cracking due to shrinkage restraint on the mechanical behaviour of reinforced concrete

Shrinkage may lead to tensile stresses and cracking in reinforced concrete structures due to several mechanisms: gradients of drying shrinkage, restraint of autogeneous and drying shrinkage by reinforcement or concrete members of different thickness or ages etc. This contribution focuses on the effect of drying shrinkage on the behavior of concrete tie members, with a focus on the restraint by reinforcement. It is showed that, if it is not taken into account, numerical simulations show an overestimation of cracking and force at first crack when submitted to uniaxial tension when compared to experimental results. Besides, an appropriate interface model should be also introduced in order to be relevant.