A synthetic turf sports surface needs to provide the playing characteristics the sport requires and to also ensure it provides the levels of comfort and protection players require when running, falling and sliding on the surface.It was the development of long pile (or 3G) synthetic turf surfaces in the late 1990s that contain a mix of sand and granulated rubber that encouraged sports such as football and rugby to finally consider synthetic turf as a suitable alternative to natural grass.
To allow the surfaces to play like natural grass they typically have a carpet pile that is anywhere between 40mm and 65mm in length. If left unfilled this pile will lie flat, but by partly infilling the gaps between the individual pile tufts it is possible to keep them standing upright so they provide the sports characteristics bodies such as FIFA and World Rugby consider necessary.
What types of rubbers are used to form the infill?
Most 3G surfaces have a layer of sand at the bottom of the infill to act as ballast and an upper layer of some form of ‘performance infill’. Since the initial development of 3G surfaces, a number of different granulates have been used including various types of rubber, thermo-plastics and organic materials such as cork and coconut fibres.
Which type of infill is most commonly used?Of the various types of infill used, it is estimated that over 95% of all the 3G fields installed globally have performance infill derived from end of life car and truck tyres.
