Facility&Operations |
Sam Ferro
Understanding field hardness test reports
S
PORTS SURFACE IMPACT TESTING (field hardness) has become an integral part of the syn- thetic maintenance process. Test results can indicate that a field is in good condition, as well as pinpoint areas of concern. The Synthetic Turf Council recommends a minimum
testing frequency to be at the end of year 1 and the end of year 3. Other industry experts and/or field specifications often recommend annual testing. That's a lot of data! Due to the large amount of data, the test reports may be some- what difficult to interpret. In this article, we'll break down the field hardness test report, so that the field manager can understand it better and find the information that is most important for success. The field hardness test report is a two-page report (see
Figures 1 and 2). This report includes field conditions and test results from evaluations performed at multiple loca- tions on a single field. In Figures 1 and 2, we have divided the test report into five sections to aid in finding informa-
>> Below: Figure 3. Graph from research published in February 1990 by Voigt R. Hodgson, Ph.D., Director Biomechanics Labora- tory, Department of Neurosurgery at Wayne State University De- troit, Michigan in his paper titled Impact, Skid And Retention Tests On A Representative Group of Bicycle Helmets to Deter- mine Their Head-Neck Protective Characteristics.
>> Below: Figure 2. >> Figure 1.
30 SportsTurf | March 2012
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