How much plastic does it take to stop a bullet?
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- In this project video I experiment with lexan (polycarbonate) plastic to see how much ballistic resistance it has. This plastic is commonly used in bulletproof glass, vizors, and riot shields. The experiment was in hopes of figuring out how much polycarbonate I will need for my armored vehicle build, and newer ceramic tests! Plus now we have a standard to compare other solid block plastics to. how you all enjoy.
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the place I buy my polycarbonate from: freckleface.co...
![Hardware Store Bulletproof Glass project [DIY]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QPweADnNrKU/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for doing these tests for all of us.
Your welcome brother, more to come soon!
Just a thought. When the "test plates" are shot, if they are not perpendicular to the bullet path, then their effect thickness increases. That is, 7/8' polycarb angled could have an effective thickness equivalent to 1 inch polycarb perpendicular.
In other words making sure the test plates are vertical when shot could be scientifically helpful in determining true effectiveness of materials.
Great show BTW, subed and would love to hear your summarised thoughts on ideal body armour and any future tests/developments.
It was probably done on purpose since Polycarbonate has a tendency to ricochet (something you can observe by the type of deformation the material has) therefore if shooting it perpendicular there were high odds it would be unsafe.
The white plastic that make the wall of a hockey rink is usually HDPE and the plastic glass is usually PC.
You can without a doubt just ask the people that work there if you can have some of the old.
I work as an icemaker at an arena and we have ALOT of waste material that I would give to anyone that came and asked.
This is great to know! Thanks for the heads up brother
the white around the hocky rink gets replaced or the glass or both?
interessing! wasn't expecting the 1/4 to stop both a .22lr and a .38special (it means that 6mm gives good anti-frag protection)
Right! Gotta love polycarbonate, might very well be my favorite plastic to work with. It would be cool to do some polycarbonate/steel hybrids, we'll have to discuss that more on discord
@@Techthisoutmeow i will give you some design ideas indeed
@@Techthisoutmeow I use a a home made target of a mild steel c-channel to hold 1foot square plates held up from the mild steel base by 2 case hardened steel 1/4" rods. I buy replacement 1/2" polycarbonate plates off Amazon when they break up, but the 3/8" AR500 plate has taken hundreds of 5.56 ball and 7.62x54r steel core with only the faintest dimples and a minor concave starting.
The polycarbonate is used only to ensure nothing bounces back
Everything can be replaced from Amazon except the mild steel base and frame.
Version 2.0 will have some kind of spacers between the 2 plates because filling it with sand didn't work
@Dutch shrapnel is often compared with .22lr for an estimate of penetration power
@@Techthisoutmeow You alive? No new vids in a while..
Your idea for using melted bags in between layers of fiberglass worked awesome. I found you can mould it as it cools into a helmet shape and add small porcelain squares as a strike face.
The protective properties of the electrical tape are legend.
Saving lives one video at a time.
In the factory we BEND lexan polycarbonate in press brake machines to get 90 degree corners.
Lexan is also the profuct used for making bullet resistant security windows.
Thanks for posting this - always wondered about this subject in regards to home windows.
I would love to see you experiment with Delrin plastic, the stuff Bic lighters are made of. It's INSANELY durable from what I understand, like tensile strength of steel tier strong.
Appreciative new sub here. Working my way through your back catalog of vids, & you've given me a ton of ideas for silly things I can get up to this winter. Thank you buddy, this is great stuff you're doing here. 👌
Thanks brother, and glad to have you! Plenty of new stuff coming out soon.
Question you left the plastic peel sheet between layer, first you may want to look at removing the peel sheets, and and not using a stack of plate go directly to a monolithic 1/2” and 5/8” sheets of polycarbonate. Lastly all of that info I have read and seen suggested that you finish the and radius the corners and edge’s remove the saw cut marks and polish the saw marks can act as a fracture point.
I did engineering on a small bench top blast box to pressure test pressure and calibrate load cells after we rebuilt the bridge electronics I used 1/2” poly with a stainless frame to 10,000 psi of GN2…
The rumor is that this is a component of the first generation m1 Abrams armor. In particular the material that is part of the NERA sandwich under compression in between two steel plates. Normally the design calls for rubber but there are many options for material with different tradeoffs.
Can't wait for the vehicle video. I'm looking to do something similar
Awesome! Yeah now that I'm back into the swing of things I'll have a few updates lined up for that soon!
Loving the videos! A strange request, for your next shooting video, could you also have something soft to rest the plate against to see the impact on a person if it catches the round and compare that with for example foam padding to reduce it? As a HEMA enthusiast I can appreciate the difference padding makes when it comes to enduring an impact.
Thank you, try placing the HDPE in a vacuum in its malleable state. New subscriber here:)!!!
I'm going to make this as a body armor cover
Mechanism of penetration? Melt or burn vs tear vs shatter, etc.? Later, layering may become important. And material failure mechanisms may be compensated by those layers? Also, bullet deformation may become important. One material may tend to hold bullets together, while others may induce shattered or spalled rounds?
Do you think the integrity of the glass/polycarbonate would change when scaling up to car window size and being unsupported by a backer? I imagine an impact in the center of a large panel would have a lever advantage since the panel would be supported only at the edges in a car.
Interesting point, however I'm not to worried about it. I've been studying how company's produce bulletproof windows for vehicles, and I'm more worried that I might not get the polycarbonate into the proper shape. But half the fun with this stuff is learning by doing, so we'll just have to wait and see if your theory is true. Guess I'll have to study how they anchor it in more, thanks for bringing it up.
I'm a little late but lattice wire sandwiches in between solves this issue in most cases, just removes some of the lowpro benefits.
I have access to so much of this! Didn't think to use the scraps.
Could you shoot a porcelain tile epoxy bonded with a 1/4 inch 7075 or 6061 alu. sheet backing, with a loose IIIa kevlar based backing or other soft armor normally pistol and fragmentation rated. Then shoot it with a military round, 5.56 (pref. the m855 round with a mild steel core) or 7.62x39 from the SKS. All in front of clay to read backface deformation.. Would be cool to see if you can survive a hit with porcelain+alu armor on top of your IIIa.
Have you seen my aluminum plate test video? I tried pretty much exactly what you asked for, and stopped the 7.62×39, the m193, and with a decent backer the m855!
@@Techthisoutmeow That is super interesting, i have seen it but could not remember exactly that setup. My take on it is if the flex kevlar will be enough to stop the rest of the projectile after porcelain and aluminum and if you would survive the shock. A thinner, more ductile variant of aluminum would also be interesting, like 6061.
A pre-owned flex kevlar panel from ebay is 30$, a p. tile, different thickness of 6061 alu.. I'm happy to donate a few $ for that if you want to test it out meow
Sme test with dummy behind would be cool, great video though.
This was a pretty cool video. I've been working on an idea for body armor and I've been curious about wether or not polycarbonate can be effective and at what thickness.
So im guessing 5-10mm tempered glass on top of 15mm of poly should stop 7.62x39 and .223
Yeah you get the idea, I've done a bit with glass and polycarbonate before on this channel, years ago.
1/8" poly will stop my pellet gun. 3x 1/8" stacked but not bonded wouldn't stop .22LR. Just a data point if you were wanting to vandal protect a stained glass window or some such.
That is not polycarbonate! That is acrylic. Polycarbonate does not shatter or break apart when you shoot at it. Polycarbonate is much stronger then acrylic.
Uh buddy, this is clearly polycarb lol
😂 Seriously?
Nice, now i wonder if u can make a gun with that material perhaps start with .22lr if posible including barrel, perhaps the only metal will be the springs or u can maybe substitute springs with transparent ruberbans lol
Happy thanksgiving
And a happy Thanksgiving to you as well!
.45 may be heavy, but it's about the same speed as a .38 Special. I wonder how much that shattering had to do with the increase of projectile mass, and how much had to do with just the fact that it had already been shot twice...
Props for taking the time to experiment, though, good job!
When you get big.....remember me
Good science 💪🏾
Old DVDs/CDs can be layered with just packing tape and will stop a surprising amount. It only takes a couple a disks to stop a 22lr. They work like a cross between a ceramic and a laminated plastics. Kinda trippy.
How bout old plated huge vinyl tape?
"Right?" Nobody told me there'd be a quiz.
Have you ever thought of using space armor or plastic. In other words 1/4 inch poly 1/2 inch air, frame, and then another 1/4 inch poly. A lot like modern tank armor vs apfsds.
So basically wearing polycarbonate + layer of kevlar vest would be the best option to have a lightweight bulletproof vest in personal? I'd like to know the weights of it
And if you put a ceramic in the middle of the polycarbonates, wouldn't it give more resistance to stop up to 7.62x39?
What about layered sand paper plates?
Try armor with crabon fiber and epoxide strike face and polycarbonate frag catcher
I know that during the 1980’s safariland sold a polycarbonate clip board made of 3/8” thick as a traffic stop shield.
This channel rocks!
Is there different types of polycarbonate?
and what type is used in ballistic polycarbonate?
Would a single sheet of 3/4" polycarbonate do better or worse than the 1/2"+1/4" sandwich?
I like your method of comparing the other plastics like hdpe to your polycarbonate since polycarbonate is the strongest plastic, I was thinking it would be cool to find kevlar in solid block form which may not be possible to find, but just to see how it would compare to hdpe or polycarbonate in solid block form, I know that kevlar is a thermo set plastic that can't be remelted like thermoplastic like hdpe. I'm curious if solid block of kevlar if it does exist would compare to hdpe in the amount of thickness to stop a bullet.
I don't know about kevlar, but I do know there's solid block nylon that might be really cool to try. One that I always wanted to shoot is PEEK plastic, just to see. Honestly if I can swing it, i would like to compare all common plastics vs ballistic threats, but that would get costly quick. maybe one day
@@Techthisoutmeow yeah that would be fun to see!
Lets start a "go fund me" so he can test ALON :-)
Good video, tyvm
I'm very interested to see what a 1/4 of poly would stop bonded to a car window. With the hard strike face of glass I have a feeling it might stop the 357 but would love to know
Will you make a video of hard hat into ballistic helmet
Hello how much energy in joules does a Barrett's bullet at perfect vertical, generate if it hits a polycarbonate at 1000m? How thick should a polycarbanate be at 1000m to stop a Barrett at vertical (ground to air shot)? I need it for a Math project.
Thank you.
God bless, advanced Merry Christmas and a Very Joyful New Year.
Would it be feasible to affordably install this along the lower half of my classroom walls so kids are protected when they duck?
Are the videos on your home page , ALL your videos or are there more somewhere else?? Thanks Do you still have a Discord channel ?
I'm watching this after having gone through your more-recent "hardware store L3+ armor build" video -- can't help wondering how heavy the lexan is in comparison to some of those materials. What if you laminated lexan with a ceramic strike face, also using your idea of adding a strike face "cohesion" layer to help the ceramic hold together a little better for multiple hits? Maybe add some layers of UHWMPE as a backer for all layers? I mean, as a possible alternative for body armor -- as you may or may not know, not all sheet polycarbonate is clear.
Would be nice to know if that half inch would of stopped the 9, if you had not of hit the edge. Where it could shatter a chunk off effectively reducing it's stopping potential? Just curious as it only got one shot.
The 44 magnum would be better to try. The 44 magnum is the true cannon. I think 9 mm and 45 and 45 are pretty strong but not in any means a huge caliber. The 44 is were it's at.
test multiple sheets off 1/8" polycarbonate but with about 2 inch of air space between layers.
trust me.
the thinner layers flex and absorb more
Do you think this has a place in the armor panels, or is the layered HDPE fiberglass more effective for size and weight
Some of my very first armor designs used polycarbonate in them, with kevlar and urathane resins, and they worked great. However I do feel laminated HDPE composite has more stopping power overall. You should check out my ceramic tile show down video, I compare different ceramic strike faces on a polycarbonate backer, and some of those might be the easiest way to create rifle rated stuff.
I just bought 2 boxes of Black grocery bags 400 cnt, each box , I bought from local Speedy Mart , $25 ea, I have not tried to mold yet, Can I make a block out of them like the milk jugs plates !!
So I was thinking since the third shot, this isn’t a true test because you have a extra layer of protection, and if most folks are using this it wouldn’t have the tape around it. Then you confirmed at the end that exact fact because of the second trial with the .357. So I guess just go up a quarter inch and you would be good because that would be stronger than the electrical tape. Interesting video! Thank you I learned a lot!
Bro some 1/4th mm of electrical tape isnt effecting shit
How much carpet will it take to stop a rifle round
BODY SHIELD 2INCH THICK WITH ARM AND LEG SHIELDS
The plastic soldier of fortune model lol.
@@Techthisoutmeow RIGHT -PLUS HE CAN BE RECYCLED ..LOL
You were using a standarized model for the ceramics but not in this video. Also could you write down all the specs in a sheet to download it? I really appreciate your information but please do a written summarize it helps us a lot ( for non English native) a NIJ level 2 is a good level... So a 5/8 inch will resist 4 shoots of magnum?
Interesting stuff. The 22LR sure is easy to stop.
Thanks
Where did you find laminate?
What do you think of tin sheets (roofing material) glued/laminated together with some structural epoxy (as the backer) then using that same structural epoxy for 1.5in strike face.
Hi. Can you tell us where you get your polycarbonate sheets from?
What's the largest size available, and the cost, please? Thanks!
Sure thing! So this is by far my favorite place to buy polycarbonate and acrylic from freckleface.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/plasticmaterial.html they have some of the cheapest sheets around! E plastics sometimes has sales, and TAP plastics is another good one. But when it comes to polycarbonate, I mostly just buy from freckleface, the prices are just to good.
@@Techthisoutmeow WOW!!
Thanks so much for responding!!
Those prices are incredible!!
Literally HALF of other places!!
Thank you so much!!
Can polycarbonate be made into a upper torso armour (head,chest,back,arms)
If you can mold It then I don't see why not.
I had a question, I'd like to test some materials I have for bullet resistance, how do you recommend I layer the materials? I have Ceramic tiles, Fiberglass fabric and polycarbonate sheets, my initial idea was ceramic, poly and then fiberglass but I saw in one of your other videos you did the fiberglass before the polycarbonate, if you believe this works better could you explain the reasoning?
Awesome
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
Are you laminating several thinner plates to make the thicker plates ?? how thick were the one plate pieces , 3/4 ? 5/8" ?
Wood backing polycarbonate plates it´s not good for an adequate test...
Larry yourrr killlllinnn mmmmmmeeeeeee
haha he's great.
Yep... Beers on me 🍻
my man! thanks for supporting the channel, if I can get more people like you then I can invest in some new firearms, or maybe even a high speed camera!
to be clear this is unreinforced PC?
Hey what are your thoughts on using HDPE for a trigger group and receiver for a rifle
Or is that more of a question for kek?
I bet you the 357 magnum would perform better if you used a hotter load.
Do you follow Hoplite Armor Systems? I believe they use HDPE
put ceramic layers between poly layers, keeps the ceramic in the material, correctly
ie, laminated ceramic tiles
multiple consecutive strike faces and the hpde-poly layers between, something around the keep it in place, or just layer interleaving
ceramic composite scale armor
or just single carrier cushion plate with steel frame, so the internal plates-layers can be easily swapped for new
think as a bubble wrap structure but from steel or plastic or ceramic, that crushes down to absorb incoming energy, like a styrofoam, large amounts of empty air, space, to compress into, honeycomb, bubbles, spheres, cones
Did you try to connect several plates you make into dragon skin style body armor? I think this should give better results as dragon skin spreading bulleter energy bit better.
Dragon skin is not better at stopping anything if so top end body armour would all be dragonskin and tanks would have dragonskin armor
Is lexan polycarbonate?
I think the 9mm got through the 1/2" because it hit on the edge,
45's are bigger and badder than 9mm.
🤔have a simulated bullet proof vest over gelatin . Then surmise if a human body would survive the shock without major consequence
I have! Well, with ballistic clay, the same stuff the NIJ uses for their rating system. You can measure the back face deformation better with clay, unless you have a high speed camera that is. If you watch my last video I use it, all my armor that's made to be worn is tested this way. This was more to see how much is needed to outright stop a bullet.
@@Techthisoutmeow do you recommend viscolstic polymer as a barrier for protection behind the plate? And if so where and how to make this polymer ?
The way you handle your knife towards your body really makes me worry for you.