An examination of the Clegg impact hammer test with regard to the playing performance of synthetic sports surfaces

One of the tests used to evaluate the performance of sports surfaces measures the peak deceleration of a rigid mass during contact with the surface, after being dropped from a set height. It is widely used and is included in a number of international standards. The test was carried out using two drop heights on four different designs of artificial cricket pitch, with a full set of acceleration data being collected over the duration of impact. These data were then integrated twice with respect to time to produce velocity and displacement information. Oblique impacts of cricket balls were also carried out and analysed using a high-speed video system to evaluate the playing performance of each pitch design. It was found that, although the pitches gave quite different readings of peak deceleration, they produced similar values for coefficient of restitution and were therefore considered to 'play' in a very similar way. This was due to a high peak deceleration reading being accompanied by a short contact time and low peak deceleration being accompanied by a long contact time, meaning that the change in momentum was similar in both cases. It was concluded that for accelerometer tests to be useful, all the acceleration-time data should be analysed, rather than the peak value alone.