Vitrimer-based carbon fiber composites offer a new route to damage-tolerant and sustainable structural materials through their intrinsic healing capability. This study examines the recovery of compression-after-impact (CAI) performance in laminates reinforced with adipic -acid (AAV) and malic- acid   (MAV) epoxy vitrimers. Controlled low-velocity impact (LVI) tests were used to introduce barely visible impact damage, followed by thermal healing at elevated temperature and pressure. Mechanical testing combined with three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) revealed that AAV and MAV composites recovered approximately 90% and 62% of their pristine CAI strength, respectively. The out-of-plane displacement profiles from DIC showed that healed specimens regained a distinct pre-buckling regime and exhibited delayed buckling onset, indicating restored stiffness and interlaminar integrity. X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) confirmed substantial reduction in interlaminar separations and matrix cracking after healing. While healed laminates did not fully reach pristine strength, they displayed reduced variability and more uniform deformation fields, signifying improved structural reliability. These findings demonstrate that vitrimer matrices can effectively reverse impact-induced damage, offering a path toward repairable, reusable, and longer-lived carbon fiber composites for structural applications.

National Science Federation

Mechanics of Materials, Composite Mechanics, Experimental Mechanics

Python, Origin

Digital Image Correlation (DIC), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)