The quality of adherence between a coating mortar and its substrate, such as building front wall, depends on environmental conditions. Especially, the restraint of the drying shrinkage of the mortar by the substrate usually results in tensile stresses. This could lead to cracking or even debonding. The main objective of the present PhD dissertation is to study the cracking phenomenon due to restrained drying shrinkage and its impact on the failure of the mortar/substrate system. The interaction between cement hydration and drying, the content of cellulose ether (used as chemical admixture) and the substrate roughness are the main studied parameters. For this purpose, several original experimental devices were developed. In particular, cracking was investigated with digital image correlation. The three studied parameters appeared to influence significantly the adherence and cracking. However, no clear relation between cracking and adherence could be emphasized.
