3. Cracking

3.1 Most frequent causes

There are many such causes, which can be classified into three main categories:

• inherent causes of material properties: for example, shrinkage due to the evaporation of mixing water, swelling due to the exothermic reaction of the binder, the mechanical strength of the binder's cohesion ;

• external direct causes, i.e. those acting directly on concrete structures: for example, excessive deformation under the action of loads, deformation under the action of temperature or humidity;

• indirect external causes, i.e. the repercussions on certain structures...