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Ballistic ceramic tile really isn’t the type of ceramic or porcelain that people think of. It is far more dense. Feldspar based ingredients in porcelain are interesting but I don’t know any manufacturers offering these types of materials for widespread use. The most common ceramic ballistic tile are aluminum oxide, sintered or reaction bonded silicon carbide, boron carbide and more common, a silicon and boride hybrid. Outside of those materials I don’t have much technical knowledge of porcelains. Thanks for the question. It’s a good one.

My experience with that is that projectile fragments still exit the PE steel interface layer. Fragments move parallel to the steel strike face and out the adhesive layer. Especially true with larger calibers.

When combining materials you always have to remember that the post-impact motion of projectiles is not always from front to back. The “give” of a PE backer helps keep the projectile and fragments moving in a strike face to wear face motion (good). But with steel, there is no gradual deceleration and fragmentation which means that the fragments splash against the strike face and move parallel… which unfortunately is aligned with materials boundary layers and adhesive layers. This results in delamination of all sorts and fragments moving upwards and outwards toward plate periphery (where you are).

Water based polyethylene resins in certain PE raw materials have great elongation properties.

Thanks man!

These tests were performed by Energetic Lab in accordance with the 0101.07 NIJ approved, P-BFD 6 shot requirement for RF3 armor 0101.07 standard (p.19-20). P-BFD (Perforation-Backface Deformation ) is relevant to performance under a max 44mm BFD. That was the purpose of our test. Ballistic Limit Performance requirements are complete penetration only tests where regression analysis is applied to predict probable failure velocities (see Appendix D). You can choose 1,2,3 or 6 shots for all CTP testing but after the armor is NIJ certified - there’s only 1 shot for FIT testing and it’s only a test for complete penetration, NOT the 44mm BFD limit. I wanted to explain this for everyone that might not know. In the end, there will be no RF3 armor certified for “more than one” shot.

Other than conditioning and drops, the NIJ 0101.07 RF3 ballistic P-BFD and Ballistic Limit performance requires a single hit of .30M2AP (below 44mm due to the P-BFD requirement) and Ballistic Limit analysis indicating that the armor can perform over a wide range of velocities with a “low” probability of a complete penetration. Our two reports were very solid performances… especially since these were initial design confirmation tests for the NIJ CTP application process.

The adhesives require some heat to activate. We then keep pressure on during the cool down to room temp. Heat is dangerous for PE so you have to limit the time… freezing does not make the ceramic harder in any appreciable way as far as I know! Our adhesives are good to -40F

You can buy our OA+ outsourced version for $99 each… check the ballistics report. Stopped 4 rounds of .30 M2AP. Doesn’t have to be expensive or require a trip to Lowe’s.

Ha! Check out my video just before this one. So, hitting it with a hammer wasn’t enough?

Thanks!

A blend of performance, weight and cost effectiveness… thanks

Hello - very interesting and thank you for sharing that info. There is no metal in our plates… we use ceramic to UHMWPE via adhesive interface that is non-epoxy and will elongate enough to absorb energy. Some models have a carbon/aramid thermoplastic on the wear face.

Yes, this can be done especially if the tile are the same thickness to prevent problems with uniform crack arresting layer adhesion to the ceramic. Thing to watch out for is that SiC and alumina don’t quite bond to other materials exactly the same way. You have to find something that will bond both types to each other and then to the PE backing material. Be sure to clean the SiC very well with acetone and water wash- the dust can interfere w bonding. I have done several sets of hybrid plates where the weight can be reduced this way… if you can solve the other issues.

BONUS: you can play checkers on the strike face!

It blew up alright! Blew some M80A1 into our armor plates!

Interesting but the tile themselves are not enough. Usually 35-45 layers of PE needs to back the ceramic for rifle protection. Total number varies and testing is needed!

For?

All well-built edge to edge armor plate has some outside edge protection… usually a 1-2mm foam or rubber strip. If the ceramic covers 100% of the back plate - it’s edge to edge.

Really depends on how the manufacturers address mechanical drop treatment (foam, for example). If a crack already exists (ceramic tile array), does dropping make it more or less likely to form a new crack between boundaries? Great question and I would argue that the smaller pieces (50mm) when adhered together with elongating adhesive are able to flex more than a single piece making them less vulnerable. But- in either case, well-manufactured ceramic armor is not vulnerable to normal wear and tear as you describe. You have to be VERY CAREFUL to avoid non-NIJ certified armor that also does not incorporate crack arrestors that would restrict damages in cases such as you suggest.

Would not ever wear steel. That’s just me. I’ve hit steel plates with .30-06 and .308 and knocked the frag coating off in one shot.

Hi-definitely ceramic. Lots of reasons why and I’ll do another video on this topic soon.

Good question but never use bathroom tile. This is specialized ballistic ceramic that undergoes powder pressing and kiln heat / cool for hours that increases its density. Much different than bathroom tile.

Some manufacturers use an injecting process also… but these tile are not everyday ceramic construct.

There’s A LOT more to it than that… check out some of our testing videos on the channel.

Yes they are! Model 9049 on website RF3 section. With or without trauma reducer plates.

The hex tile is purchased through select sources that can match our specs. Unless you are trying to go with a multicurved shape, would suggest using a 2” tile first and a monolithic as a secondary choice.

Thank you.

We actually can as long as you meet NY state law requirements.

Thanks

Thank you

Glad it was helpful!

Several of these combos on the website. Here is one of them: gilliamtechnicalservices.com/products/model-6909-set-edge-to-edge-rf2-level-3-or-rf3-level-4-shooters-cut-sapi-cut-ceramic-armor

Depends on how far apart they are and what the projectiles are. In general, mosaic tile with polyethylene backers are very good performers versus monolithic plates especially with glass backers.

No need to pay that for silicon carbide. Our model 6910 is monolithic edge to edge weighing in at 6 pounds with multi-hit proven performance. A 5 pound silicon carbide plate often has a 1” foam edge… especially if it’s RF3.

Thank you.

There are lots of manufacturers. We use calibrated bags that have very slow leak down rates. They are expensive but much higher quality than the films you see other builders using. Ours come from TORR technologies based in the US. We buy calibrated gauges from other sources and these calibrations are part of our SOP.

I’m not sure about the local regulations in Canada. I’m also not sure if you could purchase various components and assemble them and whether that would also be subject to regulations/restrictions.

Using layering increases ballistic resistance because the energy is attracted by adhesive layers and takes on a more laminar direction (shear). There may be believers for 100% PE RF2 performance… I’m just not one of them.

Makes for a customizable thickness but it depends on customer’s desired performance. All of this is custom and customizable.

No, but most can. The TRP is not necessary to meet NIJ 44mm BFD limits on any of our models. The Models 6910 and 9049 can be outfitted with TRPs via the site but most can if you ask.

Awesome! Thank you!

Not sure what is meant by physical work. Assembly of the mosaic strike faces, cutting and pressing or high pressure forming of PE, oven based adhesive activation, and covering takes more than 45 minutes for 2 plates. But then again - maybe you’re right and I’m wrong.

Hello - want to be as transparent as possible. Some things can’t be revealed but we do want to create an informed community. Thanks.

Thank you. Please let me know if you have any questions.

100% PE plates with at least 160gm2 and 30mm thick will stop many M193, M855 (this is not official advice - speaking from my own testing experience). Much easier and more reliable to stop penetrators with a thin layer of ceramic plus PE. Relying on PE only plates to stop penetrators is overall not a great idea - especially the M80A1 (if you think you could ever be faced with that projectile). 24-25mm PE can stop some of the 5.56/.223 FMJ ball ammo… especially oblique entries. This is all just my experience. Others may have different experiences.

For various reasons, some manufacturing is moving to South Korea. There are other parts of Asia (Japan-South Asia) that provide other related goods and services. Of course the vast manufacturing expertise remains in China. Like any country, in China there are renowned specialists and also those who permit economics to dominate decision-making. The majority of the world’s raw materials involving ceramic powder and processing comes from China. They have been creating specialty ceramics for 10,000 years. We follow performance and specs… not country names. We have found that pursuit of performance versus costs gives us a superior product that can compete with any body armor plate on the market. Our sources include companies with proven abilities to meet and sustain our materials specs. We also use Italy’s Bitossi for an increasing amount of work - although they cannot provide a performance or cost based equivalent to the mosaic ceramic tile arrays that we use for performance reasons. Bitossi is quite good at monolithics and we have to build those plates entirely differently. I have various NDAs that restrict me from discussing details, but you would be surprised to know the number of large US-based manufacturers of polyethylene material who source Chinese fibers. Within the confines of all of these things, business strategies are developed. For us, it is less about the country of origin of source material and more about purity, quality, performance and cost. We have evolved to this view over the years as we have noticed various US-based materials that were either substandard (not always) or did not exist (ceramic tile arrays) at an acceptable price point for our customers. For example, we occasionally reach out to specialty ceramics firms in the USA for quotes involving ceramic array shapes and thickness. These quotes usually involve the actual testing of a sample I provide them. Because of the cost of US labor and due to the manufacturing differences between powder pressing and injection molding- the US quotes usually come in 4-5x higher for the same quality. We will continue to seek and establish sourcing partnerships that put performance versus affordability in focus.

Always!

IMO that shouldn’t be the standard by which you judge life saving products. I have severe glaucoma and the glare from lights causes significant discomfort. Thanks for your patience.