In this paper, a unidirectional carbon-fiber composite is both experimentally and numerically investigated to study the nonlinear material behavior of impacted double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens. For the impact analysis, the load and the displacement applied from pin onto end block as well as the crack energy release rate are measured and compared with the finite element analysis results. The energy release rate is a critical measure of the resistance to crack propagation, which can be estimated by the force and displacement at the crack tip. It is found that the energy release rate measured from impact tests on the specimens is well predicted by the finite element model suggested in this study.