Saturday, August 9, 2014
Natural grass can be mimicked using artificial fibers on a surface. Sports arenas have traditionally used this synthetic grass for sports that used to or still require a grass-like environment to perform on. Nowadays, these surfaces or not only used for sports leagues but even in residential settings and commercial landscaping.
This surface can withstand quite a lot of wear and pressure. It also doesn't need any regular trimming or watering to maintain its look. Sports arenas love this surface because they aren't able to get sunlight to all areas of natural grass even if they wanted to. The surface does have negative factors, though. It has sparked some health and safety concerns due to its toxic chemicals and petroleum ingredients. It also requires a specific procedure of cleaning periodically, and does not have a long shelf life.
This type of surface is produced with a mixture of plastic granules and other additives like coloring agents and UV stabilizers. These ingredients are then heated and pressed together, then pressured through an extruder head. This procedure creates individual fibers, and the shapes of them depend on the specific extruder head. Usually, the two types of fibers end up being fibrillated or monofilament.
Fibrillated fibers require that plastic be pressed through the extruder head first to create a thin film inside it, similar to a videotape. Notches are made in the plastic to create a honeycomb structure when it's pulled apart. The honeycomb film is spun around until it becomes round. Fibrillated fibers are used often because they are affordable, mostly in sports arenas that require large amounts of artificial turf. However, these fibers don't look natural. It takes some time for the notches to split even further apart for it to start looking realistic.
Monofilament fibers are pushed through extruder heads like ready-to-use blades, somewhat like spaghetti. The blades are combined together and coiled around each other to create bundles of grass piles. Monofilaments look a lot more natural than fibrillated fibers; and show more flexibility, softness, and wear resistance.
The mixture combination does differ between suppliers and the specific desired end product, but will ultimately determine the quality of the grass. The fibers, or blades, are the reinforced to withstand temperatures between -50 and 50 Celsius, and also any force or wear they might need to resist. Afterwards, the fibers are wrapped around spools, or bobbins, and sent to artificial turf manufacturers.
These bobbins are put on machines that are four meters wide and have needles that push the fibers through backings. This tufting process is comparable to any standard sewing machine. The final resulting appearance of the artificial turf relies on the machine and its needles, the fiber itself, and the fiber height.
The backing is able to keep all the blades in place with a liquid mixture that acts as a glue. The turf is then put in the oven to harden. This process finalizes the entire turf, and it can go out for sale or installation.
This surface can withstand quite a lot of wear and pressure. It also doesn't need any regular trimming or watering to maintain its look. Sports arenas love this surface because they aren't able to get sunlight to all areas of natural grass even if they wanted to. The surface does have negative factors, though. It has sparked some health and safety concerns due to its toxic chemicals and petroleum ingredients. It also requires a specific procedure of cleaning periodically, and does not have a long shelf life.
This type of surface is produced with a mixture of plastic granules and other additives like coloring agents and UV stabilizers. These ingredients are then heated and pressed together, then pressured through an extruder head. This procedure creates individual fibers, and the shapes of them depend on the specific extruder head. Usually, the two types of fibers end up being fibrillated or monofilament.
Fibrillated fibers require that plastic be pressed through the extruder head first to create a thin film inside it, similar to a videotape. Notches are made in the plastic to create a honeycomb structure when it's pulled apart. The honeycomb film is spun around until it becomes round. Fibrillated fibers are used often because they are affordable, mostly in sports arenas that require large amounts of artificial turf. However, these fibers don't look natural. It takes some time for the notches to split even further apart for it to start looking realistic.
Monofilament fibers are pushed through extruder heads like ready-to-use blades, somewhat like spaghetti. The blades are combined together and coiled around each other to create bundles of grass piles. Monofilaments look a lot more natural than fibrillated fibers; and show more flexibility, softness, and wear resistance.
The mixture combination does differ between suppliers and the specific desired end product, but will ultimately determine the quality of the grass. The fibers, or blades, are the reinforced to withstand temperatures between -50 and 50 Celsius, and also any force or wear they might need to resist. Afterwards, the fibers are wrapped around spools, or bobbins, and sent to artificial turf manufacturers.
These bobbins are put on machines that are four meters wide and have needles that push the fibers through backings. This tufting process is comparable to any standard sewing machine. The final resulting appearance of the artificial turf relies on the machine and its needles, the fiber itself, and the fiber height.
The backing is able to keep all the blades in place with a liquid mixture that acts as a glue. The turf is then put in the oven to harden. This process finalizes the entire turf, and it can go out for sale or installation.
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