Toughness to Thermoset Resin Systems

9 Introducing toughness to thermoset resin systems 13.1.9.1 Introduction 

Due to the increasing growth of composites in the mid 1980s there was a desire to produce resin systems that were more resistant to impact damage than the grades available at the time. 

A design strain limitation of 3000 ncmcm had been imposed and this, coupled with the cost of composite manufacture, made various composites non-competitive. This spurred resin manufacturers to introduce a class of tough resins that could meet design strain limits as high as 6000ncmcm [69], 

A number of workers [70-74] have reported ways of toughening epoxy matrices, but toughening the matrix does not always translate into enhanced properties of the composite. 

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