Study on the Impact Damage Characteristic of the Ex-Situ Toughened Composite Laminates

In this paper, two carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composites were prepared via ex-situ toughening technique. The damage resistance and damage tolerance of these two fiber-reinforced polymer composites were then studied in terms of low-velocity impact test and compression strength after impact (CAI). The results indicated that the T300 carbon fiber-reinforced composites had better damage resistance response and higher damage tolerance, and the visual observation of damage was also achieved. However, the T700 carbon fiber-reinforced composites had higher breaking elongation, and therefore the composite was not sensitive to the low-velocity impact. In addition, the CAI strength of this composite was still low.