Abstract
The phosphorus-containing poly(arylene ether ketone) (P-PAEK) with the advantage of insolubility in BMI resin at the injection temperature was chosen as the toughener of RTM resin. The U3160 carbon fiber reinforced BMI resin composites interlaminar toughened by P-PAEK particles was fabricated via RTM process. Through research on the influence of P-PAEK particles with different contents on the impact strength properties of BMI resin, it was found that the toughness of matrix resin could be greatly improved by adding a few thermoplastic resin particles. The impact strength was increased from 10. 3 kJ/m(2) to 30. 3 kJ/m(2). The microscopic morphology was observed by SEM and toughening mechanism was analyzed. When the content of P-PAEK increased, the microstructure of TP/TS system experienced sea-island, co-continuous and phase inversion transition. The sea-island structure could absorb more energy than the other one, which attributed to the toughening mechanism of rigid particles. The interlaminar fracture prope