Machines for Artificial Turf Components

Players increasingly prefer artificial turf due to the soft yarns. The preferred one is linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) because it is easy to achieve the desired softness. The FIFA Quality Concept for football turf outlined the performance requirements for choosing the LLDPE material. Many aspects of the game played on artificial turf have improved significantly over the years. 

Latest generation artificial turf constructions with very reproducible playing conditions have by now made significant inroads into American Football, Soccer, Rugby and other major sports, long played on natural turf. In addition, benefits of artificial turf systems include reduced maintenance and water (fertilizer) requirements, higher utilization (more playing hours), rendering the transition to artificial turf economically interesting.

The most important performance requirements for fibrillated tape are:

• durability (wear, split and degradation resistance), 
• resiliency (repeated elastic recovery of yarn after bending) 
• softness (player friendliness). 

 The fibrillated artificial turf yarn is produced:

1. By extruding a flat cast film into a water bath (or onto a chill roll) for cooling. 
2. The film is then tensioned between soft rolls and dried before it is cut into several tapes. In line, temperature controlled rolls tension the tapes further before they enter the stretching oven. Temperature controlled rolls behind the oven run at a higher velocity and therefore stretch the tape. The fibrillator, consisting of a roll covered with sets of needles and two further rolls used to press the tape onto this needle roll at a specified angle, is typically installed in between the first high velocity rolls behind the oven and another set of temperature controlled rolls . 
3. The tapes enter at high velocity and the needle roll, at higher rotational speed, cuts longitudinal slits in a pattern into the tapes to give them the shape of grass blades. An important point at this processing step is that the needles can actually cut into the tape to split it in a longitudinal (machine) direction. In order to cut the tape the needle needs to overcome the material’s tear resistance in machine direction. Consequently, a lower tear resistance will make cutting slits into the tape easier. Several further sets of temperature controlled rolls or heated ovens are used to anneal the fibrillated tape before it is collected on bobbins. 
4. From the bobbins the yarn is tufted and fixated into a carpet. 
5. Once the carpet with fibrillated tape is installed in an artificial turf pitch, the low tear resistance that allowed fibrillating the tape has now a negative impact on the wear and split resistance of the yarn. The yarn splits further into finer and finer fibrils. The aim is therefore to balance opposing needs: a sufficiently low tear resistance to allow fibrillation and on the other hand a high tear resistance to prevent so-called post-fibrillation (splitting) in the field.

We tested different types of materials in order to maintain a key mechanical property of fibrillated yarns:  the tear resistance in machine direction, influencing the fibrillation process and the ultimate yarn splitting and resulting wear in the field. 

Over the years, we developed Machines for Artificial Turf Components keeping all the high quality standards.