Abstract: The residual stress generated during the cladding process has a great influence on the cladding quality. To explore the residual stress distribution of the substrate during the cladding process, the optimized cladding parameters are obtained by the experimental method, based on the optimized process parameters. The cladding model was established in ANSYS and the temperature field and stress field distribution in the 316L stainless steel cladding process were simulated. The results show that the heat accumulation during the movement of the molten pool is small, the peak value of the time history curve of the molten pool is basically flat, and the temperature is about 2350 ℃. The residual stress distribution in the direction of laser cladding is concentrated, and the maximum residual stress is 420 MPa. The experimental investigation found that the crack initiation position of the cladding is basically the same.