In response to continual release of new innovations by the synthetic turf industry, FIFA has decided to update some of the definitions used to define or describe elements of synthetic turf.
Thickness of fibre
With the introduction of differently shaped fibres, the question of what exactly is the thickness of fibre became hard to answer, as much depends on where this is measured. The depth and thickness are clearly two different things. FIFA has now decided to define fibre thickness as:
the diameter of the largest circle possible inserted into the core of the fibre.
Dtex
With each tuft of most modern synthetic turf carpets consisting of multiple fibres, FIFA now expects manufacturers to define the dtex for each fibre used in a tuft. A tuft that consists of six fibres of two different thicknesses should, from here on, be defined as:
Yarn 1: **** dtex times number of fibres
Yarn 2: **** dtex times number of fibres
Infill
The FIFA Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is currently finalising the exact definitions for the various types of infill used for third-generation synthetic turf fields. FIFA has defined five different categories:
- Polymeric infill
- Biodegradable infill
- Natural infill
- Mineral infill
- Non-filled