The purpose of the research on tool wear mechanism is to analyze the physical, chemical and mechanical phenomena in the contact area of the friction pair formed by the tool and the workpiece, and to find out the causes of the tool wear and the methods to reduce the tool wear. In this paper, we use scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer to study the tool wear pattern and mechanism of tool wear in high-speed cutting of titanium alloy TC21. The engineering solution of the problem is concluded, which has certain engineering application value and theoretical research value.