• 2025-07

Advantages of Artificial Turf - Infill

One of the key benefits of artificial turf is its flexibility to be used in all weather conditions throughout the year. As the market phases out infills that are classified as microplastics, alternative system designs are needed to fill this gap. However, some of these options do not offer the same flexibility and are susceptible to drastic changes in environmental conditions.

Mineral infill (or sand) is one example. As any child who has built sandcastles at the beach can tell you, the properties of sand change with its moisture content. As shown in the figure below, the force required to deform the sand by penetrating it with a spike (or cleat) varies significantly between dry, wet and frozen conditions.

Dry sand requires 13 Newtons of force, the same sand increases to over 30 Newtons when wet and over 200 Newtons when frozen.

For athletes, this means they may not get the grip they want on these types of systems in wet and cold conditions. Unfortunately, current industry standards for measuring grip (rotational resistance) do not adequately model this interaction on mineral infill systems, leading to false positives in approvals. Shape and size grading of sand does little to reduce this phenomenon.

By working closely with players and measuring their complex interactions, we are able to accurately measure grip on a variety of systems in all weather conditions. This enables GOBO to find turf solutions for all climates.

These systems include both non-infill and natural infill solutions, providing a wide range of options for different fields and sports applications.