The cutting heat dissipation in chips, workpiece, tool and surroundings during the high-speed machining of carbon steel is quantitatively investigated based on the calorimetric method. Water is used as the medium to absorb the cutting heat; a self-designed container suitable for the high-speed lathe is used to collect the chips, and two other containers are adopted to absorb the cutting heat dissipated in the workpiece and tool, respectively. The temperature variations of the water, chips, workpiece, tool and surroundings during the closed high-speed machining are then measured. Thus, the cutting heat dissipated in each component of the cutting system, total cutting heat and heat flux are calculated. Moreover, the power resulting from the main cutting force is obtained according to the measured cutting force and predetermined cutting speed. The accuracy of cutting heat measurement by the calorimetric method is finally evaluated by comparing the total cutting heat flux with the power resulting from the main cutting force.
