Abstract: In laser cladding, it was difficult to accumulate heat on the pure copper surface for forming effective metallurgical bonding between copper and Ni60 coatings. In order to overcome the difficulties, a method of pulsed laser cladding assisted with preheating was adopted. Laser cladding experiments on copper substrate were conducted, and a 3-D transient thermo-elastic-plastic model was developed to simulate the thermal process and residual stress. When the preheating temperature reached 573K, the cracks in Ni60 cladding layer were completely eliminated. The processing efficiency of laser cladding was increased 2.2 times when preheating temperature was 673K. The average hardness of the Ni60 coating obtained by laser cladding assisted with preheating was 800HV_0.2. Under normal temperature, the relative wear resistance of Ni60 coating and ASTM52100 steel was 4.45. Friction coefficient of Ni60 coating was 57% of ASTM52100 steel or copper. The results show that with the increase of the preheated temperature, the number of cracks in Ni60 coating decreases and processing efficiency of laser cladding increases. Also, the surface hardness of Ni60 coatings improves and friction coefficient decreases effectively. By pulse laser cladding assisted with preheating, Ni60 cladding layer on pure copper without cracks and air holes is obtained.