Thermoplastic resin matrix composites possess high strength, high stiffness, good heat resistance and corrosion resistance, which are widely used in aerospace and other fields. In this paper, adhesive bonding, mechanical fastening and welding technology of thermoplastic resin matrix composites are comprehensively introduced, and the process characteristics, connection mechanism, failure mode of these techniques are analyzed and compared. At present, the most widely used methods for connecting composite materials are adhesive bonding and mechanical fastening. However, both have obvious shortcomings. For adhesive bonding, the adhesive needs long curing time and the quality of adhesive joints is easily affected by the environment, these technical and environmental restrictions limit the application scope of the adhesive technology. Mechanical fastening, including bolt connection, rivet connection and other methods, increases the weight of the structure because of the introduce of bolts and rivets, which does not meet the lightweight purpose. Furthermore, a hole also needs to be drilled in the process of mechanical fastening, leading to stress concentration and losing of the strength of the material. Although the traditional solid-phase bonding method has the above defects, it is still widely used because of its simple technology and low cost. In order to optimize the connection quality, scholars continue to study adhesive bonding and mechanical fastening, and new methods such as electromagnetic riveting technology, cold rolling rivet connection technology and self-piercing riveting technology have proposed. On the other hand, researchers are also devoted to the development of welding technology with great potential application. This paper briefly introduces the application of laser welding, friction stir spot welding, induction welding and vibration welding in the connection of resin matrix composites, with emphasis focused on resistance welding and ultrasonic welding. In fact, welding technology, especially the resistance welding and ultrasonic wel-ding, can effectively avoid the shortcomings of adhesive bonding and mechanical fastening, which has advantages such as high efficiency, low cost and high reliability. Therefore, welding has replaced gluing and mechanical fastening in some areas. Resistance welding is a traditional technique of pressing welding, which has been widely used in assembling for a long time, thus, the technology is mature and the welded joints tend to have high connection strength. However, metal mesh or other materials need to be added as heating element, which has a negative effect on the fatigue property of the structure. Ultrasonic welding technology has developed rapidly in the past ten years. When it is applied to the welding of resin composites, the advantage of this technology is obvious. Compared with adhesive bonding and resistance welding, it can connect materials without adding any auxiliary materials, realizing the consistency of the structure. Compared with mechanical fastening, ultrasonic welding does not require hole opening or fastening, realizes the integrity of the structure, reduces stress concentration and decreases the weight of the structure. Therefore, ultrasonic welding technology has a very broad application prospect in joining thermoplastic resin matrix composites. © 2019, Materials Review Magazine. All right reserved.
