PCM Panel Substructure for Artificial Grass Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Artificial grass fields experience significant temperature increases due to solar absorption, leading to user discomfort and potential injuries, and existing cooling methods like water spraying are costly and disruptive to the playing surface.
Innovation Solution
A substructure system utilizing Phase Change Material (PCM) panels that absorb and store heat from the top layer, allowing for efficient heat transfer to the substructure, thereby maintaining a lower temperature and preventing freezing during cold nights, without the need for liquid cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If water spraying is used to cool the artificial grass field, then the temperature of the top layer is reduced, but the playing condition of the artificial grass field is affected and the solution is costly
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the cooling function into separate PCM panels that are embedded in the substructure, separating the cooling mechanism from the top layer. This allows heat management without directly contacting or wetting the artificial grass, thus maintaining playing conditions while achieving cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
PCM panels act as an intermediary between the heat-generating top layer and the ground. The phase change material absorbs excess heat through phase transition (solid to liquid), providing passive cooling without requiring water spraying or direct intervention on the top layer.
2Temperature
If PCM panels are used to absorb and store heat, then the temperature of the top layer is regulated without liquid cooling, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The PCM panels provide self-regulating temperature control through passive phase change. The material automatically absorbs heat when temperature rises (melting) and releases heat when temperature drops (solidifying), without requiring external control systems, pumps, or complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes the phase transition properties of phase change materials (typically paraffin or salt hydrates) that melt at specific temperatures. During daytime, the PCM absorbs solar heat through melting; during nighttime, it releases stored heat through solidification, providing automatic temperature regulation.
3Reliability
If the PCM panels are coupled and interlocked, then the heat transfer efficiency is improved and panels remain in the same plane, but the manufacturing and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple PCM panels are coupled together to form a continuous thermal management layer. The coupling structures (such as interlocking edges or adhesive bonding) ensure thermal contact between panels while maintaining their positions in the substructure, creating a unified heat-absorbing system.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling mechanism extends the functionality from individual panel level to system level by adding horizontal interconnection. This ensures that heat can be distributed across multiple panels and that the entire PCM array remains stable and coplanar within the substructure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The PCM panel system effectively regulates the top layer temperature, keeping it around 50°C during sunny periods and preventing freezing at night, enhancing user comfort and surface quality without the need for liquid cooling, thus addressing the heat management issues in artificial grass fields and asphalt road surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
PCM as such stands for : Phase Change Material... heat (or cold) that is present in a top layer and is usually developed by weather conditions may be given up relatively efficiently to the substructure based on mutually coupled PCM panels... heat (or cold) given up by the top layer to the substructure formed by the system according to the invention can be stored temporarily in the PCM panels
Implementation Method 2
heat (or cold) given up by the top layer to the substructure formed by the system according to the invention can be stored temporarily in the PCM panels... allow the heat transfer between a top layer and an underlying substructure formed by the system according to the invention to take place as completely and in as controlled a manner as possible
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a system for manufacturing a substructure of a floor structure, such as a road surface or sports floor. The invention also relates to a floor structure, such as a road surface or sports floor, comprising a substructure based on the system according to the invention. The invention further relates to a PCM panel for use in the system according to the invention. The invention further relates to the use of a PCM panel in the system according to the invention.