Abstract
An experimental and theoretical investigation was made of the hydrodynamics of melting of a metal by the action of a laser pulse of complex shape. An increase in the efficiency of ejection of the melt was discovered experimentally. The motion of the melt under the action of combined (pulsed and cw) laser radiation obeyed hydrodynamic equations in the momentum approximation. The question of modeling the pulse-periodic metal-processing regime and optimizing the pulse shape for laser drilling of metals was considered.