How to Buy Armor Steel Six Questions to Settle Before You Order

Start With the Threat Not the Thickness

The first question is what protection level you need and what type of ammunition you have to defeat. Buyers name threats such as M2AP, AK47, M80, SS109 and M193, and each one loads the plate differently. Until that is fixed, thickness and grade are guesses.

Armor and ballistic steel plate supplied by Tianyu Metal can stop AK47, NATO 5.56 x 45, NATO 7.62 x 51 and M80. Protection is quoted against the recognized level systems so your specification travels with the order.

• Name the ammunition first M2AP AK47 M80 SS109 M193 or the round you actually face
• Protection levels quoted FB4+ FB5 FB6 FB7
• NIJ IIIA NIJ III and NIJ IV for personal and vehicle protection
• STANAG 4569 Level 1 and Level 2 for vehicle hulls
• GA-3 GA-4 GA-5 and GA-6 for security and cash in transit work

Decide the Weight the Protected Product Can Carry

The second question is what weight the steel is allowed to have. A cash in transit vehicle, a patrol boat and a fixed bank counter each have a different weight budget, and on a vehicle every added kilogram comes out of payload, range or suspension life.

Where a weight limit exists, work backwards from it. Fix the protected area, then the areas that can be thinner, then the grade. A higher hardness grade can reach the same protection level in a thinner section of the same plate, so hardness is often the lever that brings a heavy design back inside its weight limit.

• Confirm whether the protected product has a stated weight limit before selecting thickness
• Separate the zones that need full protection from the zones that only need spall or fragment cover
• Remember that a harder plate at the same thickness performs better ballistically

Match the Hardness Grade to the Budget

The third question is cost. A buyer can step up from 500 Brinell material to 550 Brinell or 600 Brinell type armor steel, but the higher the hardness of the plate the higher the price. That trade is worth making only where the threat or the weight limit forces it.

Ballistic steel carries a hardness rating of 500 to 600 Brinell, a yield strength of 1250 MPa and a tensile strength of 1600 MPa, which together give it greater multi hit capacity than other steel. Structural steel may only be half that hardness, which is why an ordinary plate substitution is not a substitution at all.

• Typical ballistic steel hardness is 500 to 600 HBW
• Yield strength of 1250 MPa and tensile strength of 1600 MPa
• Structural steel may only be half the hardness of ballistic steel
• As hardness rises the ballistic performance at the same thickness improves and so does the price
• Consider mixing grades so the highest grade covers only the critical face

Fix the Size and the Cutting List

The fourth question is size. Armor and ballistic steel plate runs from 2.3mm to 100mm in thickness and is supplied to customized size, so most orders are placed as a cutting list rather than as full plates.

Send the panel drawing with the inquiry. Hole positions, bevel edges and overlap allowances are cheaper to produce with the plate than to add later in a workshop that is not set up for hardened steel.

• Thickness available from 2.3mm to 100mm
• Plates supplied cut to customized size against your drawing
• Quote panel sizes and hole positions together so cutting and drilling happen in one pass
• Allow for the overlap at joints where two panels meet

Plan the Cutting Welding and Bending in Advance

The fifth question is how the steel will be fabricated. As the hardness of armor steel improves, the ease of folding, welding and cutting decreases. All fixing holes and cutting to size therefore have to be carried out on a laser machine or a water jet rather than by flame cutting or drilling on site.

Processing services cover bending, welding, decoiling, cutting and punching, so the panels can arrive ready to fit. Confirm before you order which operations your own workshop can carry out on 500 Brinell and above, because that answer usually decides how much processing you buy with the plate.

• Fixing holes and cut to size work performed on a laser machine or a water jet
• Bending welding decoiling cutting and punching available as a processing service
• Harder grades fold weld and cut less easily so plan the sequence before ordering
• Order the panels finished where your own equipment is not rated for hardened plate

Choose Between Stock Material and Customized Production

The sixth question is whether to buy from stock or order customized goods. Ask whether your order quantity is large enough to justify a production run and whether you have the time to wait for one. A small quantity pulled from stock usually costs less in total than a short customized run, while a large quantity in a fixed specification usually favors production.

Where the schedule is tight, a hybrid works: stock material for the first units so assembly can start, customized production for the balance.

• Check whether the order quantity is big enough for a customized run
• Check whether the build schedule leaves time to wait for one
• Compare the total cost of stock material against a short production run
• Samples are available so the grade can be evaluated before the main order

Ask for the Documents With the Quotation

Armor and ballistic steel plate ships with a test report, and Tianyu Metal holds ISO9001, BV, SGS and RoHS certification. Ask for the documents at the quotation stage rather than after loading so that the paperwork matches the grade and protection level written on the purchase order.

Where the material goes into a regulated project, confirm that the protection level on the report is the level named in your own specification before production starts.

• Test report issued for the ordered plate
• ISO9001 BV SGS and RoHS certification held by the supplier
• Confirm the protection level on the document matches the level on the purchase order
• Samples available for evaluation ahead of the production order