To explore further the influencing of mechanical effects on laser machining in the liquid, in the process of great-energy and short-pulsed laser irradiating matter in the liquid, the experiments of 248 nm laser etching n-Si under water were carried out. The removal mechanism of brittle material etched by mechanical effects, which is induced during high-energy and short-pulsed laser machining in the liquid, was discussed. In the paper, the approximate mechanics model of indentation fracture was used to analyze the mechanical effects for removing brittle materials of silicon when laser machining in the liquid. Based on this, a theoretical model of material removal rate was proposed; the experiment of laser machining under water was adopted to validate the model. The experimental results indicate that the removal rate of brittle material caused by shock forces is relatively great. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.