Kevlar Plates

Kevlar is an extremely strong plastic polymer having a very high level of heat resistance. It is a synthetic fiber that has a very high tensile strength to weight ratio, making it useful for a sea of applications, ranging from bicycle tires to bulletproof vests. 

Kevlar outperforms steel by a fair deal when it comes to handling strength. The stiffness is not as much as carbon fiber, but it's much more brittle than it.  

Let's get into some more details of carbon fibre kevlar sheets and the price of Kevlar sheets so you may get an idea in case you are willing to buy it. 

1. How Is a Kevlar Sheet Made?

Typically, there are two major steps involved in the making of kevlar. In the first one, the usual chemical reactions take place, forming the mid-state, the plastic. The second step takes this plastic on to turning it into strong fibres, known as Kevlar. 

Kevlar is a polymer which is formed by what chemists call them, condensation reactions. They are formed by fusing together thousands of molecules made identical parts in long chains. 

2. Properties of A Kevlar Plate 

a) Extremely high tensile strength is yet very lightweight. Around ten times greater than steel.

b) Can be ignited but burning stops whenever a source is removed.

c) Doesn't melt. Unlike most plastics, it can withstand a temperature of up to 450-degree Celsius, which is way more compared to any other plastic.

d) No effect of low temperature. When testing it, it did not start degrading until the temperature was as low as -196-degree celsius.

e) Can resist attacks from various chemicals. Unless they are very strong acids or bases and remain intact for quite a long period of time.

f) Kevlar sheets can be found in a variety of colors such as gold, silver, blue and others. Whereas other sheets have color constraints.  

3. Uses for Kevlar Plates 

Due to the above-listed properties of kevlar, they prove to be extremely useful and hence are used in various projects in the form of Colored carbon fiber sheets or otherwise. Some of them are listed below.

a) Bulletproof and knife proof vests.

b) Car's tires and brakes.

c)  Aircraft bodies. 

However, there's one big drawback of kevlar plates that they're brittle, have very low compressive strength, which is the reason why they aren't sometimes preferred over steel when it comes to building structures. 

4. Price of Kevlar Plates 

Frankly, asking about the price of a Kevlar sheet is like asking about the cost of wood. There is no constant answer. Rather, there could be hundreds of answers depending upon the details of the kevlar plate being discussed. Below I will list some factors which would essentially help you figure out the price of Kevlar sheets. However, one important thing to note here is that Kevlar plates are quite expensive when compared to Carbon fibre sheets, whatever the type and the dimensions may be. 

a) Type of the Kevlar Plates / Composition. E.g. core sheets, prepreg sheets, solid sheets.

b) Dimensions. The height and width of the sheet.

c) Thickness. Greater thickness means higher strength.

d) Finish. Include matter, texture, and gloss finishes. 

For the purpose of having an estimate before you set on the hunt to find a kevlar sheet suitable for you, a typical kevlar sheet having the dimensions 24" x 48" and thickness 1/16" costs around 275 USD. However, the price may fluctuate depending upon the brand and the location.