**5. Conclusions**

Laser ablation is a facile, reliable, and economical method to evaluate ablation resistance of materials. The fundamentals of laser-material interactions were discussed from the physical aspects and chemical aspects. The physical aspects mainly involved the absorption of laser radiation, heating and propagation, melting, vaporization, and solidification. The chemical aspects mainly involved the decomposition of materials and the reaction between the materials and the testing atmosphere. Some practical applications of laser ablation in ablation-resistance characterization of ultra-high-temperature ceramics and composites were presented, and the ablation behavior and mechanism were discussed.
