Surface heat treatment using a laser beam or an electron beam is studied through numerical analyses and experiments. For the surface heat treatment process, a theoretical model is developed to predict the effects of laser beam power, travel speed and properties of a workpiece on the depth and width of the heat affected zone(HAZ). The shape of HAZ and the hardness of heat-treated surface are experimentally obtained using an electron beam. Three materials(SS41, S45C and S55C) are selected as workpiece materials. The hardness of HAZ is increased up to 3 times for materials of a low carbon content. The results of the numerical analysis are compared with those of experiments. The comparison shows that the numerical model predicts larger depths and widths.