“The United States needs to mine billions of tons of raw natural aggregate each year. At the same time, millions of scrap tires are stockpiled every year. Therefore, replacing natural aggregate with recycled crumb rubber aggregate will be beneficial to the construction industry and environment. This research aimed to investigate the feasibility of using recycled rubber in new construction applications. Based on size, recycled rubber was selected to match its natural counterpart. Different ratios of recycled crumb rubber were used as a fine aggregate replacement in concrete masonry units (CMUs) where the rubberized units showed a lower unit weight, higher ultimate strain, and better durability. In addition, the thermal conductivity of rubberized masonry units decreased with increasing the rubber content resulting in a reduction in heating energy consumption. In a different application, recycled crumb rubber was used as a full or partial replacement of coarse aggregate in chip seal surfacing where it shows better retention especially with longer curing time. The rubberized chip seal had a rougher surface which increases driving safety. Environmentally, the toxic heavy metals leached from the rubberized chip were below that of the EPA drinking water standards with a significant reduction of heavy metal leaching when rubber was used with emulsion in the form of chip seal. The third application was utilizing the waste of scrap tire processing in a form of rubber- fiber powder (RFP) as a sand replacement within cement mortar. RFP was used as an additive to provide more corrosion resistance and less heat of hydration of cement mortar. Incorporating RFP within plastering mortar disclosed that RFP can be used as an eco-friendly additive to provide better crack resistance, thermal and acoustical insulation as well as noise reduction”--Abstract, page iv.
","abstract_html":"<p>“The United States needs to mine billions of tons of raw natural aggregate each year. At the same time, millions of scrap tires are stockpiled every year. Therefore, replacing natural aggregate with recycled crumb rubber aggregate will be beneficial to the construction industry and environment. This research aimed to investigate the feasibility of using recycled rubber in new construction applications. Based on size, recycled rubber was selected to match its natural counterpart. Different ratios of recycled crumb rubber were used as a fine aggregate replacement in concrete masonry units (CMUs) where the rubberized units showed a lower unit weight, higher ultimate strain, and better durability. In addition, the thermal conductivity of rubberized masonry units decreased with increasing the rubber content resulting in a reduction in heating energy consumption. In a different application, recycled crumb rubber was used as a full or partial replacement of coarse aggregate in chip seal surfacing where it shows better retention especially with longer curing time. The rubberized chip seal had a rougher surface which increases driving safety. Environmentally, the toxic heavy metals leached from the rubberized chip were below that of the EPA drinking water standards with a significant reduction of heavy metal leaching when rubber was used with emulsion in the form of chip seal. The third application was utilizing the waste of scrap tire processing in a form of rubber- fiber powder (RFP) as a sand replacement within cement mortar. RFP was used as an additive to provide more corrosion resistance and less heat of hydration of cement mortar. Incorporating RFP within plastering mortar disclosed that RFP can be used as an eco-friendly additive to provide better crack resistance, thermal and acoustical insulation as well as noise reduction”--Abstract, page iv.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gheni, Ahmed A."],"institution":"Missouri University of Science and Technology","degree_name":"Ph. D. in Civil Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:18:09Z","subjects":["Chip Seal","Crumb Rubber","Masonry","Rubberized Concrete","Scrap Tires","Sustainable Materials","Civil Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/3093","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gheni, Ahmed A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph. D. in Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Missouri University of Science and Technology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Chip Seal","Crumb Rubber","Masonry","Rubberized Concrete","Scrap Tires","Sustainable Materials","Civil Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/3093"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["“The United States needs to mine billions of tons of raw natural aggregate each year. At the same time, millions of scrap tires are stockpiled every year. Therefore, replacing natural aggregate with recycled crumb rubber aggregate will be beneficial to the construction industry and environment. This research aimed to investigate the feasibility of using recycled rubber in new construction applications. Based on size, recycled rubber was selected to match its natural counterpart. Different ratios of recycled crumb rubber were used as a fine aggregate replacement in concrete masonry units (CMUs) where the rubberized units showed a lower unit weight, higher ultimate strain, and better durability. In addition, the thermal conductivity of rubberized masonry units decreased with increasing the rubber content resulting in a reduction in heating energy consumption. In a different application, recycled crumb rubber was used as a full or partial replacement of coarse aggregate in chip seal surfacing where it shows better retention especially with longer curing time. The rubberized chip seal had a rougher surface which increases driving safety. Environmentally, the toxic heavy metals leached from the rubberized chip were below that of the EPA drinking water standards with a significant reduction of heavy metal leaching when rubber was used with emulsion in the form of chip seal. The third application was utilizing the waste of scrap tire processing in a form of rubber- fiber powder (RFP) as a sand replacement within cement mortar. RFP was used as an additive to provide more corrosion resistance and less heat of hydration of cement mortar. Incorporating RFP within plastering mortar disclosed that RFP can be used as an eco-friendly additive to provide better crack resistance, thermal and acoustical insulation as well as noise reduction”--Abstract, page iv.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Feasibility and assessment of using recycled rubber for infrastructure applications"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Gheni, Ahmed A."],"dc:description.abstract":["“The United States needs to mine billions of tons of raw natural aggregate each year. At the same time, millions of scrap tires are stockpiled every year. Therefore, replacing natural aggregate with recycled crumb rubber aggregate will be beneficial to the construction industry and environment. This research aimed to investigate the feasibility of using recycled rubber in new construction applications. Based on size, recycled rubber was selected to match its natural counterpart. Different ratios of recycled crumb rubber were used as a fine aggregate replacement in concrete masonry units (CMUs) where the rubberized units showed a lower unit weight, higher ultimate strain, and better durability. In addition, the thermal conductivity of rubberized masonry units decreased with increasing the rubber content resulting in a reduction in heating energy consumption. In a different application, recycled crumb rubber was used as a full or partial replacement of coarse aggregate in chip seal surfacing where it shows better retention especially with longer curing time. The rubberized chip seal had a rougher surface which increases driving safety. Environmentally, the toxic heavy metals leached from the rubberized chip were below that of the EPA drinking water standards with a significant reduction of heavy metal leaching when rubber was used with emulsion in the form of chip seal. The third application was utilizing the waste of scrap tire processing in a form of rubber- fiber powder (RFP) as a sand replacement within cement mortar. RFP was used as an additive to provide more corrosion resistance and less heat of hydration of cement mortar. Incorporating RFP within plastering mortar disclosed that RFP can be used as an eco-friendly additive to provide better crack resistance, thermal and acoustical insulation as well as noise reduction”--Abstract, page iv.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/3093"],"dc:subject":["Chip Seal","Crumb Rubber","Masonry","Rubberized Concrete","Scrap Tires","Sustainable Materials","Civil Engineering"],"dc:title":["Feasibility and assessment of using recycled rubber for infrastructure applications"],"dc:type":["Dissertation - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph. D. in Civil Engineering"],"thesis:institution_name":["Missouri University of Science and Technology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:18:09Z"}