Ballistic Performance of Reground Resin in Extruded Polycarbonate Plates

Abstract

Polycarbonate is a suitable engineering material for applications where safety, protection, and transparency are required. One such application is transparent armor in which polycarbonate is often used as a spall shield. The ability of the polycarbonate to deform is key to its effective use as a spall shield in optically transparent armors, however the performance is not always consistent. In practice of producing polycarbonate sheet, portions of the sheet that are not suitable for use can be reprocessed along with virgin material into usable plate. The reprocessed content was believed to be a possible contributor to variable ballistic performance of laminated armors. Grades of polycarbonate with differing levels of reprocessed material were ballistically tested with the 0.22 caliber fragment simulating projectile at high, room, and low temperatures. No significant difference in ballistic performance, consistency, or failure response was observed.