Thermo-hygro-chemo-mechanical model of concrete at early ages and its extension to tumor growth numerical analysis.

The aim of the PhD thesis is the development of two multiphase models from a common theoretical basis, applied to two very different research fields: i) the study of the behavior of concrete at early ages, essentially for the prevention of cracking and related issues; ii) the analysis of the physical, chemical and biological processes that govern the growth of cancer. The modeling of concrete at early ages is very important and useful for the design of durable and sustainable structures. The model developed during the PhD thesis has been implemented on the finite element code Cast3M and then validated via the simulation of experimental cases. Nowadays this model allows for several applications: study of stresses and cracking in young concrete, analysis of thermal and hygral gradients, predictions of autogenous and drying shrinkage, creep strain, stress redistribution, study of the inhibition of hydration caused by drying, study of repairs, etc.. In the fight against cancer, the advance of medical strategies based on numerical analysis has a crucial scientific interest and can have a great social impact. The equations which govern the thermo-hygro-chemo-mechanical behavior of concrete at early ages have many formal analogies with those typically used to model tumor growth. Hence, these equations have been readapted and a novel mathematical model for tumor growth has been developed. This model has been implemented in Cast3M and the first numerical results are encouraging since qualitatively close to the experimental data present in the scientific bibliography