POLYUREA BALLISTIC PROTECTION</span

These tests first compared bare concrete bricks and these same bricks coated in 1/8th inch of our ArmorLiner polyurea formulation. Two of the most common handgun rounds, 9 mm and a .38 special, were discharged directly at the two targets from a fixed distance and at close range. Between the firearm and the concrete bricks was placed a gel block, which was used to simulate a human target and better visualize the bullet’s trajectory and post-impact behavior.

The results? Well, you’ll have to see it to believe it, but the structure coated in polyurea was not only unpenetrated, but the bullet actually reversed its course to reenter the gel, before then exiting for the final time and falling onto the floor. To up the ante, successive tests removed the gel blocks positioned before the structures, which did see the bullet penetrate the coatings, but it still failed to penetrate the concrete blocks. Perhaps even more interestingly, the high-speed footage revealed that the polyurea coatings eliminate nearly all shrapnel, and prevented any concrete chips from dislodging to become a projectile in their own right.

Building on our growing expertise in ballistic materials, we’ve also developed a high-strength composite ballistic material by combining polymer composites with STF (shear-thickening fluid) structures. Polyurea’s energy absorption capabilities are well-established on concrete, steel, and numerous other substrates, but their application on fabrics is still a burgeoning area of investigation. To this end, we’ve conducted high-velocity impact tests under NIJ 0101.06 Class IIIA standards, which showed that our polyurea/Kevlar composites with integrated STF structures were lighter and thinner than traditional laminates, while still maintaining the same ballistic properties.