I believe the AR rating is based on a full set. Most of the time, the body zone which a breastplate belongs has a 44% coverage (defined in armrzone.cfg as the chance to hit that piece of armor) so 20 x .44 = 8.8 which is why you're getting 8.
Disclaimer: I haven't scripted POL in about 8 years now so I could be wrong with this.