Bullet Resistant Windows - About Protective Windows from Protective Structures
Protective Structures offers a wide variety of bullet resistant windows of several various types of bullet resistant transparent materials. Bullet resistant window options are dependent upon various factors, including threat level, window location, size and application. Each bullet resistant window has its own unique strengths; Protective Structures will help you determine which material will work best for each situation.
Interior bullet resistant windows are normally manufactured using bullet resistant plastics. One of the most common bullet resistant plastics is acrylic. Acrylic, with polished edges, is crystal clear and can be cut, shaped, notched, drilled and fastened, giving the customer a multitude of options when bullet resistant plastics are required. Bullet resistant acrylic is available in abrasion resistant (AR) or non-abrasion resistant (Non-AR). AR acrylic has a coating which makes the finish less susceptible to scratches from cleaning. Non-AR acrylic does not have this scratch resistant coating but offers equal protection and is more affordable. Acrylic is a popular choice for bullet resistant plastics due to its pricing and to its various functional possibilities. Bullet resistant acrylic, unlike polycarbonate, is a spalling and ricochet material, but it will not shatter into dangerously small pieces as would glass.
The strongest of all plastics used for bullet resistant windowis bullet polycarbonate. Polycarbonate, in it's inital state, is not a bullet resistant plastic until laminated in layers. Bullet resistant polycarbonate an ideal bullet resistant window, like acrylic, due to the multitude of options in design and application. One key advantage of polycarbonate is that it encaptures the bullet instead of deflecting it, making it a no-spall, non-ricochet bullet resistant window ideal for lobbies or areas open to the public. Unlike acrylic, polycarbonate has an abrasion resistant coating on the outside sheets. Polycarbonate can also be laminated with glass, as described below.
Exterior bullet resistant windows can be fabricated using laminated glass or glass clad polycarbonate. While plastics products can be cut, shaped, and fastened, this is not true of bullet resistant windows made with glasss. Bullet resistant windows made with glass are much harder than plastic and can be easily cleaned, but it must be ordered to size and options given by using a glass product are limited. Laminated glass products are made by layering glass and gluing the layers together, while glass clad polycarbonate is glass laminated with polycarbonate. While laminated glass is a spalling and ricochet product, bullet resistant glass clad polycarbonate is offered in the no-spall variety, with glass laminated only on the threat side of the polycarbonate, and low-spall, with glass laminated to both sides of the polycarbonate. Whatever the application, Protective Structures has a bullet resistant window to meet your requirements. Call us with any questions or design issues and we will gladly help you with all of your nees regarding bullet resistant windows.
Please be sure to visit our specifications page which has much greater detail on the engineering and design of our bulet resistant windows and frames.
