Artificial Turf Infill Quantity: Sand & Performance Layer

The formula

This is the expression the tool evaluates. Every term is named underneath, with the unit it must be supplied in.

How the result is derived

Step by step, from the values you type to the figure on screen.

1. The 7 inputs are read from the form on every keystroke: Turf Area, Pile Height, Free Pile Left Standing, Sand (Stabilising) Layer Depth, Sand Bulk Density, Performance Infill Bulk Density and Bag Size.
2. Each value is checked against the accepted range in the input table below. A value outside its range stops the calculation rather than producing a misleading figure — the results blank out and a message appears.
3. The validated values are substituted into the expression above, which resolves Total Infill together with every supporting figure in one pass — no value is carried over from a previous entry.
4. The supporting outputs — Performance Layer Depth, Sand per m², Performance Infill per m², Sand for the Area, Performance Infill for the Area, Sand Bags, Performance Infill Bags and Free Pile as a Share of Pile Height — come from the same pass, so they always describe the same case as the headline figure.
5. Results are rounded for display only. The full-precision value is used throughout the chain, so reading a rounded intermediate figure back into the tool by hand can shift the last digit.

What each input means

Where to read each value on the floor, the unit it must be in, and the range the tool accepts.

What the tool returns

The headline figure and every supporting value it is built from.

Worked example

Substituting

Sand is four-fifths of the mass but only four-sevenths of the filled depth: its bulk density is three times the infill's.

How to use it

1. Work through the input groups in order — Turf and Materials. The defaults are a realistic case, so you can change one value at a time and watch what moves.
2. There is no calculate button. Every figure recalculates as you type or drag, which is what makes this usable for a what-if sweep rather than a single answer.
3. Read Total Infill in the dark results panel — that is the headline figure, expressed in t.
4. Check the supporting rows underneath (Performance Layer Depth, Sand per m², Performance Infill per m², Sand for the Area, Performance Infill for the Area, Sand Bags, Performance Infill Bags and Free Pile as a Share of Pile Height) before acting on the headline — they are where an implausible input usually shows itself first.
5. Reset to defaults returns every field to the reference case, which is the quickest way to check whether a surprising result came from the tool or from an input you had changed earlier.

Where this is used

• Process planning — establishing Total Infill before a trial is booked, so machine time and material in High-Performance Sports & Extreme Environments are committed against a calculated figure rather than an estimate.
• Costing and quotation — Total Infill is an input to the cost sheet, and quoting from a worked number rather than a remembered one is what keeps a margin intact.
• Troubleshooting — when the floor result drifts from plan, entering the measured values (starting with Turf Area) shows how much of the gap in Total Infill each variable explains.
• Teaching and study — the accepted ranges bracket normal High-Performance Sports & Extreme Environments practice, so moving one variable at a time shows the shape of the relationship rather than a single answer.

Reading the result

Typical bands and what each one is telling you.

Assumptions and limits

• Filled depth = pile height - free pile; performance layer = filled depth - sand layer; each layer's mass per m² = its depth in metres x its bulk density in kg/m³. The yarn and backing take a little of the volume, which this ignores, so the figures lean towards ordering slightly more; top-up infill for brushing and wear is extra. Layer depths and densities come from the turf system specification and the infill suppliers. A negative performance depth means the sand layer and free pile already exceed the pile height. EU buyers: Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 bans placing on the market granular infill containing synthetic polymer microparticles for synthetic sports surfaces from 17 October 2031, after an 8-year transition (per the EU Office of the European Olympic Committees' summary of the Commission guide); infill bought before then may still be used. **A quantity take-off, not a pitch specification.**
• Every input is bounded to the range normal practice occupies (Turf Area 1 to 50000 m², Pile Height 5 to 80 mm and Free Pile Left Standing 0 to 60 mm, and so on for the rest). Those bounds are guard rails against typing errors, not a claim that the formula fails one unit outside them.
• The calculation is deterministic: the same inputs always give the same result. It carries no allowance for machine condition, operator skill, ambient conditions or lot-to-lot material variation unless an input above explicitly represents one.
• Nothing is sent anywhere. The maths runs in your browser, so the numbers you type never leave the page.

Standards and further reading

• EN 15330-1, Surfaces for sports areas: synthetic turf and needle-punched surfaces primarily designed for outdoor use, specification for synthetic turf.
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055, restriction of synthetic polymer microparticles under REACH, including granular infill for synthetic sports surfaces.
• The turf system specification sets pile height, free pile and the infill grading and depths it was tested with.

Questions people ask