In order to study the influence of the thermal effect of electric pulse on the cutting process of titanium alloys， the TC11 titanium alloy was preheated using the pulse current， the effect of thermal effect of electric pulse on cutting temperature， chip formation， workpiece surface morphology， workpiece surface roughness， etc. was studied. And the cutting process was simulated by finite element using Abaqus software to analyze the temperature field and strain field of cutting zone during the cutting process， the influence of the thermal effect of the electric pulse on the cutting performance of TC11 titanium alloy was revealed. The results showed that with the gradual increase of workpiece surface temperature， the plasticity of TC11 titanium alloy material was improved， the equivalent plastic strain of the cutting process was increased， the surface morphology of the workpiece became smooth， the surface roughness value was decreased， and the chip serrated degree was decreased. When the workpiece surface temperature was increased from 140°C to 180°C， the surface oxidation of the workpiece surface appeared， the hardness of the workpiece surface was enhanced， the surface morphology of the workpiece became rougher， the deformation coefficient and the separation degree of chip were reduced and enhanced， respectively. The thermal effect is as part of the electroplastic effect， the appropriate thermal effect can improve the plasticity of the workpiece surface material， the cutting performance of TC11 titanium alloy has a significant beneficial effect， but excessively high temperature leads to the workpiece surface oxidation and the hardness enhancement， worsening the cutting performance. Therefore， the thermal effect of electric pulse needs to be reasonably controlled in practical application to achieve the best cutting performance.