The H13 steel specimens with non-smooth surface were fabricated by biomimetic method and laser technique, and the effect of these biomimetic surfaces on the tensile properties was investigated. The results indicated that the biomimetic surface has an advantageous effect on improving the tensile properties of H13 steel. As the area ratio occupied by non-smooth units on the biomimetic surface grows to 26.7%, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and 0.2% yield strength (YS) of materials linearly increase by about 8.4% and 17.2%, respectively. The elongation to fracture of materials reaches to the peak value of about 41.3% at the point of 17.1% area ratio, and further heightening the area ratio can result in a reduced ductility relative to this peak value. This improvement of tensile properties can be attributed to the combined effects of the microstructure characteristics within the unit zone and the unit-distribution features on the surface. Meanwhile, the regressed relation equations of UTS, YS and elongation regarding the area ratio were obtained via statistical theory. The tests of regression significance showed that the confidence of these equations achieved 99% above. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.