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Cracks form a barrier for heat conduction and create preferential flowpaths for fluid, gas and pollutants, i.e. their description is crucial for predicting the lifeexpectancy of structures such as dams, nuclear power plants vessels, waste (nuclear ornot) storage structures, tunnels, etc. In this paper, a model taking into account theheterogeneous nature of concrete is presented, i.e. a model describing scale effects,cracking nucleation and propagation as well as initial defects in the material. Thismodelling strategy is validated via an original experimental test (four point bendingtest) performed at LCPC. The comparison will be given not only in terms of the globalanswer but also on cracks opening and distribution. The presented model is alsoadequate for describing 3D cracking processes.