Drying shrinkage of concrete is often estimated using a phenomenological approach where it is assumed that shrinkage is proportional to the change in internal humidity. In this study, a mechanistic approach was used which instead aims to mathematically describe the physical processes of drying shrinkage. Simulations of two laboratory tests were made and compared to results from two models based on the phenomenological approach. The results show that the developed model can describe drying shrinkage of concrete equally well as the phenomenological models but without the need to specify the final drying shrinkage strain.