Use of chemically tempered porcelain tiles in ballistic protection A candidate for an armor material should present a lower density, a suitable ballistic performance, and low cost. Porcelain tiles might be an alternative considering their outstanding technical properties and availability. To the best of our knowledge, the use of porcelain tiles was explored for the first time as an armor material. Get more news about ballistic tiles,you can vist our website! The tests were carried out with reference and chemical-tempered samples. A chemical tempering procedure was applied to improve the impact and mechanical properties. The procedure consists of a cation exchange of sodium and potassium ions, as confirmed by chemical analysis (EDX). Mechanical properties, hardness, and flexural strength were measured. The depth of penetration (DOP) test was used to verify the ballistic protection offered by porcelain tiles. A projectile was fired into a ceramic tile backed by a semi-infinite block in the test. The residual penetration into the backing material was measured and compared to the penetration of the projectile into a monolithic block of the backing material. The test was carried out with 7.62 × 51 mm NATO-FMJ (North Atlantic Treaty Organization - Full Metal Jacket) ammunition specified for NIJ (National Institute of Justice – USA) level III body armor. After chemical tempering, the potassium concentration on the material surface increases. Chemical tempered samples showed an increase in mechanical properties and ballistic performance when compared to untreated ceramic tiles. The flexural strength was 129 ± 8 MPa for the reference material and 143 ± 14 MPa for the chemical tempered material, an increase of 10%; the hardness was HV 8.5 ± 0.9 MPa and 12.7 ± 0.5 MPa respectively, an increase of 49%; and the ballistic efficiency factor (q2) was 2.74 ± 0.72 and 3.22 ± 0.5 respectively, an increase of 17%.