Dilution is an important factor which influences the properties of clad layer. In this paper the change of dilution during laser cladding and the control of dilution are simulated by a finite element method. The adaptive mesh method is adopted for the time-dependent finite element method computation so that the shape of melt pool can be well represented. The situation of the width control of melt pool is also simulated, which indicates that the dilution can be controlled if the width of melt pool is controlled. Computational results indicate that if a line energy (input energy per unit distance) remains constant the dilution will increase with time, especially at the beginning. Simulation results show that it is possible to control dilution in a certain range if the line energy decreases with time. Experiment of Nd: YAG laser cladding with wire feeding is performed. Experiment results coincide well with the FEM results.