ABSTRACT
Abstract In the past decades, cement-based materials have been increasingly used for the construction of radioactive-waste containment barriers. The design of durable structures for this specific application requires a precise knowledge of the evolution of the engineering properties of the materials over a 1000-year period. The features of a new modelling approach are presented. The model considers the various chemical and mechanical loads and their eventual couplings. The physical bases behind the development of the model are detailed. A section of the paper is specifically devoted to the experimental techniques designed to validate the model : accelerated leaching test, assessment of the permeability and mechanical behavior of concretes under tensile loading, characterization of the concrete microstructure and microcracking by imageanalysis. Results of selected numerical simulations are presented in the last section of the paper. Keywords : cement, concrete, coupling, damage, durability, electric field, leaching, model, nuclear waste.
