The ANSYS software was used to perform the numerical simulation of laser cladding. The temperature field was determined under different technological parameters. An experiment involving laser cladding of 304 stainless steel on 27SiMn steel surface was conducted under the same conditions as those in the numerical simulation. The microstructure of the cladding layer was observed using an optical microscope. The results show that the peak temperature in the molten pool increases as the laser power increases, and decreases as the scanning speed increases. The geometrical dimension of the molten pool obtained via numerical simulation is consistent with that obtained in the experiment under the same conditions. Under the laser power of 2500 W and scanning speed of 13 mm/s, the cladding layer has relatively small grains and compact structure, and shows optimal formability.