Hillbilly body armor test

[AndrewWiggin]

I had a thread running about this in the General AR forum, which got locked because it wasn't directly related to ARs. I notice that this forum allows topics about body armor so maybe it will be appropriate for this forum. Mods, if it's not the right place for it, please move it.

Anyway, we were having a discussion on that other site about methods for reducing fragmentation from AR500 plates and one of the members mentioned that floor tiles stop bullets. I figured I'd test it and sure enough, they do! What you see in the video is three PEI grade V porcelain tiles held together with Herculiner bed liner and a very thick coat of Herc on the back. The first shot is .223 PMC 55 gr ball from a 14.5" barrel no penetration and very little back face deformation. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shots are 7.62x39mm M67 ball from a WASR 10/63. I didn't know my close range sight offset as well with the AK so I hit too high, which caused the whole top corner to bend back and damage the paper bag I was using to detect whether any fragments were making it through. The second shot hit too close to the first and the same thing happened. The third shot made it clear than nothing came through so I'm reasonably confident there was no penetration on the first two shots. Only slightly more back face deformation. The video shows one shot from .40 S&W but I actually shot it ten times and not a single round made it through. Weight was about 12 lbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXmyCfB_k5I

Next test will be with two tiles, much less bed liner, and a cutting board backer.

[Cagemonkey]

Very interesting. Must be heavy as hell though. How about some fiberglass cloth and resin to control the spalling?

[AndrewWiggin]

Very interesting. Must be heavy as hell though. How about some fiberglass cloth and resin to control the spalling?

That is exactly what we were discussing on the other forum. I think it's a great idea. We were actually thinking that woven fiberglass mat attached by bed liner might work best. That would combine the better properties of the two materials.

The proof of concept you see in the video weighed about 12 lbs. The "MkII" you see in the pics weighs about 8 lbs.

[Cagemonkey]

Cool. Look forward to the results.

[AndrewWiggin]

"Mk II" test:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BORLLkLpG6U


Cliff's notes: two tiles with cutting board and bed liner defeated by 7.62x39mm. Stops one round of .45 ACP and defeated by the second.

[Vec]

Cool. Look forward to the results.

same here...

[Jack-O]

That is exactly what we were discussing on the other forum. I think it's a great idea. We were actually thinking that woven fiberglass mat attached by bed liner might work best. That would combine the better properties of the two materials.

The proof of concept you see in the video weighed about 12 lbs. The "MkII" you see in the pics weighs about 8 lbs.

there is a sticky fiber underlayment used for tile. it's expensive but exactly what you want. cant remember the name.

this tile armor project has been a thing I've worked on over the last 4 years. nearest I can tell I'm the first one to really persue it as far as I have. it just flat works, but spall is the issue. heavy spray on bed liner is a really good solution with a layer of contact cement between the layers of tile to provide just enough cushion to prevent the breaking of one tile from breaking the next.

I tested from 1 to 4 thick 1/4" ceramic tiles with M43, M855 and M193 as well as 762x25 and the standard auto pistol rounds and could not get any penetration past the third tile. the magic number was 4. I'd say it's pretty good to level three threats at least and maybe 3 hits spaced apart.

the secret ingredients to complete your project are:
-cushiony glue between the layers and the underlayment to keep the fragments together sandwiched between the layers
-wrapping or spraying the plate with material the keep fragments in. the underlayment is the cheap way and 4-6mm of rhino liner if you wanna do it right.
-stick with 1/4" CERAMIC tiles not stone

i had considered a curved plate using the 1" tiles but it would have to be 5 thick and may not protect as well. in this case using the glass tiles might work better than ceramic.

Cheap insurance if you ask me

[AndrewWiggin]

Interesting. I'll keep an eye out for the stuff.

A minor nit to pick: the type of ceramic matters. To work best, it needs to be PEI grade V porcelain tiles.

[Jack-O]

Interesting. I'll keep an eye out for the stuff.

A minor nit to pick: the type of ceramic matters. To work best, it needs to be PEI grade V porcelain tiles.

I dont know what grade I used in my experiments but it was the cheapest thickest stuff I could find.

[AndrewWiggin]

Porcelain is definitely harder than other ceramics and I think the grade matters too. I suspect that both the thickness and the material have a significant effect on usefulness as body armor.