Factors contributing to ceramic armor plate thickness

Composite ceramic armor is really an assembly process.  Some companies claim that they "manufacture" the plates.  In reality, the ceramic strike faces are pre-manufactured by third-party companies.  The polyethylene plies used in the backing materials are also manufactured by Honeywell, Dyneema, Barrday, etc.  The adhesives are also supplied to the manufacturer on rolls.  The armor manufacturer designs and assembles the main pieces by bonding the materials together.  

In the most simplest of terms, the thicker an armor plate, the more redundant it normally is (considering that the materials are viable).  Each component has its own thickness. 

As a design element of redundancy, we have chosen to build our armor plates with backing materials thick enough to resist the .44 Magnum (HG2 level).  That way, if the ceramic is cracked and missing from previous shots on your armor, the backing plate alone will stop handgun threats.  Our company choice to provide this level of redundancy is proactive and results from experience.  Other armor companies might sell you ceramic armor that cannot stop a double tap from a 9mm.  The first hit cracks the ceramic and the second goes through the backing plate.  Not GTS.

Shown below is the layup for our Model 1023 versus our Model 9042. You can see that both armor plates use an identical ceramic strike face. But, they differ in back plate thickness and crack arrestor materials thickness.  This results in a Model 1023 thickness of 0.9" and Model 9042 thickness of 1.1".

Some armor plates will have built in trauma pads on the wear face making them thicker than those that do not. Adhesive layers can also impact thickness to some extent. It is important to understand "what" is included in your armor plate thickness before you factor that element into your decision making.