The temperature field due to laser-induced discharge surface strengthening (LIDSS) has significant influence on the microstructure transformation and also the formation quality of discharge pit. A transient axisymmetric thermal model is developed to estimate the temperature distribution during
LIDSS based on Fourier heat conduction equation. In the model, a Gaussian heat input distribution is assumed; temperature-dependent material properties are applied and the latent heat of fusion and vaporization is calculated on an enthalpy method. As an application, we use this model to compute the temperature field during the process of tungsten tool electrode machining 1045 steel workpiece and find that the computational results are well consistent with the experimental data.