In order to evaluate the effect of ultrasonic vibration cutting (UVC) on cutting temperature(CT), UVC and conventional cutting(CC) tests on HMX based PBX explosive simulants were carried out. CT of machined surface and cutting tool nose were detected by infrared thermal imager in the machining process. Results show that CT of the two method all increase with the cutting speed, cutting depth and amount of feed. And the cutting temperatures of UVC are all higher than that of CC. The highest CT of UVC is 78.1 ℃, higher than that of CC by 31.3 ℃. The cutting heat of UVC is less than that of CC, and the dissipated heat of UVC is more than that of CC. The main reason for the augment of CT is the cumulation of excitation heat in UVC, which plays a decisive role in final CT. It is possible to obtain a higher, unaltered or a lower CT of UVC compared to CC.