Woven artificial turf is being used more and more, both in sport fields and in landscaping.
The process of weaving brings advantages that are critical to the future growth of this
market
(See Figure 1):
- upright pile position and reduced pile cost;
- excellent pile fixation owing to the W-weave structures;
- good water infiltration rate;
- ecological advantages and easy recycling; and
- reduced installation costs.
In the normal double-face weaving process for woven artificial grass, two fabrics are woven
simultaneously and cut in the middle to obtain two equal products.
Figure 1: Van de Wiele notes that the W-weave structure of woven artificial grass provides
excellent pile fixation.
Belgium-based NV Michel Van de Wiele’s SRi02 weaving machines weave with lancets up to 5.5
inches or 14 centimeters (cm) so that two artificial grass mats each with 2.75-inch or 7-cm pile
height are obtained
(See Figure 2).
However, cutting off-center can result in one fabric with extra-long pile length, for
example, 5.5 inches or 14 cm
(See Figure 3). This woven, extra-long-pile turf can be strongly stabilized with
artificial filling such as sand and rubber pellets.
Woven long artificial turf is better adapted to heavy use for a football field than shorter
artificial turf. Less maintenance will be required. Maintenance costs will also be reduced compared
to tufted turf.
The combination of woven long artificial grass and natural grass is finding its way into the
market. The artificial grass reinforces and protects the natural grass. The smooth feel of the
natural grass and the resistance added by the woven artificial grass are combined.
Figure 2: Long-pile woven artificial grass of 2 x 7-centimeter pile height is woven on Van
de Wiele’s SRi02 face-to-face weaving machine.
Until now, the only commercial solution was to insert the artificial grass tufts into an
existing natural grass field.
Weaving long artificial grass offers a new and interesting opportunity for this kind of
hybrid grass surface. The combination of natural and artificial grass can be obtained with some
additional advantages:
The excellent fixation of the artificial grass is realized from the start by the W-weave
structure.
As no coating is needed to obtain the desired pile fixation, the base structure remains
permeable and open to water infiltration and root growth through the fabric.
The Van de Wiele SRi02 weaving machines produce woven artificial grass with up to 5.5 inches
or 14 cm pile height when cutting off-center. This woven turf can be combined with natural grass by
adding 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12 cm) soil or ground substrate and sowing natural grass among the
artificial turf.
Figure 3: Cutting off-center on the SRi02 enables weaving of extra-long pile of 5.5 inches
or 14 centimeters.
This range of products opens up new possibilities in the market of combined artificial and
natural grass. Van de Wiele has developed a strong relationship in this field with the Textile
Department of the University of Ghent, Belgium, which has an accredited lab, the European Research
Centre for Artificial Turf (ERCAT), for testing of artificial grass.
Source: NV Michel Van de Wiele
April 17, 2012
