Regular patterns (striation) are often observed on the cut surfaces in laser cutting of metallic materials. Although there have been various investigations on the understanding of the striation formation mechanism, the models so far are inadequate for the explanation of the observed phenomena, although it has been established that melt film thickness has a strong influence over the formation of striation. A two-dimensional, analytical model is reported in this paper. Focus is placed on the effect of laser parameters such as power, scan speed and spot sizes. Power absorption over the cut front, effect of oxidation and melt film thickness are predicted in the model. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B. V.