What provides strength to a bullet proof glass?

1. 68

   ahmed.bposted 12 years ago

   What provides strength to a bullet proof glass?

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2. 56

   elderadvisorposted 12 years ago

   Bullet proof glass really is more bullet resistant, but what creates its strength is the fact it is made of two types of glass.   The first layer is hard glass and this is covered by soft glass.   The soft glass provides some flexibility/elasticity so if it is struck by a bullet the top layer absorbs some of the force from the bullet hopefully protecting the glass from completely shattering.

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3. 71

   jabelufirozposted 12 years ago

   The ability of bullet-resistant glass to stop a bullet is determined by the thickness of the glass. A rifle bullet will collide with the glass with a lot more force than a bullet from a handgun, so a thicker piece of bullet-resistant glass would be needed to stop a rifle bullet as opposed to a handgun bullet.

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   1. 68

      ahmed.bposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      So you mean to say that this is just ordinary glass and it is only the thickness which makes its bullet proof. Am I taking it correctly?

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   2. 71

      jabelufirozposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Another construction method, which is becoming popular rapidly, is the use of security laminates as a film on the inner surface of ordinary glass.

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4. 62

   Ben Evansposted 12 years ago

   There are a couple of different types of bullet proof glass.  Actually most of it is not pure glass.  Polycarbonate is the plastic of choice for bullet proof applications.  If you go into a bank you will often find polycarbonate separating the tellers from customers.  Polycarbonate is nearly shatter proof.  You can actually take the piece of plastic and beat on it with a hammer and it wont break.
   
   Now a bullet has kinetic energy and it either pierces a material or imparts energy into the material through an impulse.  So plastic that is 1-1/2" or about 38 mm thick will stop many types of bullets.  There is also glass that is laminated with polycarbonate to give a material that is very resistant to bullets.  The hardness of the glass with a material behind it that does not shatter provides a superior bullet resistant glass.
   
   The bottom line is that most bullet resistant materials include plastic (sometimes acrylic is used but it is much more apt to shatter than polycarbonate) most of the time polycarbonate and when laminated it provides a very good bullet proof barrier.

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