Would a sheet of Kevlar be able to deflect a round without a hard backing?

Question

Level III-A Kevlar tightly suspended between poles at an angle.

Answer 1

One other thing the Kevlar does to stop a bullet is "grab" it. The slug will be spinning, and as it hits the Kevlar strands, they wrap around the slug to help stop is forward motion. The "cop killer" bullets are coated with teflon so the Kevlar strands can't grab the slug as well and it penetrates easier.

As far as converting the kinetic energy of the slug to feel like a baseball bat, yes. We had the owner of a small, local public safety supply store drape a Kevlar vest over his leg and shoot it with a 45 pistol to demonstrate it's effectiveness. He almost broke his thigh bone! He had one huge, bad bruise left when he did this. He was an ok guy, just not too smart. We felt bad for him but couldn't help laughing.

Answer 2

I assume you mean would a sheet of Kevlar, supported along its edges (strongly!) do as well as one backed by a sheet of plywood or human chest?

This is a qualitative answer, but I would say, the performance would be close to performance with backing. The Kevlar with a backing converts a penetrating projectile to a blunt-force blow. Both guys I know (police and an ex-Mil-Intelligence) who were hit while wearing compared it to being hit square in the chest with a hard-swung baseball bat.

And from my experience cleaning up our summer cabin, you can really whallop on a throw rug to get the dust out and that the mass and inertia and air resistence of a few square yards of fabric (a bit under 1 pounds/square foot). The hardest blow I can manage only displaces the strike zone by 6-9 inches. And that is without the edges being secured all around. Kevlar has amazing tensile strength - Kevlar rope can be pulled through solid aluminum.

Note that most "bullet-proof" vests are designed for pistol rounds only. Any deer rifle or a teflon-coated bronze pistol bullet will penerate a standard vest. Rifle plate protection (Levels III and IV) is partly hard armor and stops bullets with the twice the velocity (four times the kinetic energy) as soft armor.

Answer 3

Kevlar is designed to absorb the shock of the bullet and slow it down, while being rigid enough to still slow it down. It couldn't deflect a bullet.

Answer 4

need more specifics