The work aims to analyze the evolution rule and mechanism of lapping process on the surface residual stress of HR-2 hydrogen steel based on the micro cutting model. A mathematical model of single-grain micro-cutting residual stress of abrasive particles was established. Orthogonal experiments were conducted to obtain the regression equations of lapping process parameters and surface residual stress, micro-cutting depth of abrasive particles and tangential force. Single-factor experiments were conducted to verify the lapping process. The influence of the lapping process parameters on the surface residual stress, the cut depth of the abrasive particles and the tangential force was obtained. And a comparative study between the experimental results and the mathematical model calculation results was carried out. The residual stress changed from –130 MPa to –345 MPa when the abrasive particle size was changed from 10 μm to 50 μm, and the residual stress changed from –135 MPa to –253 MPa when the lapping pressure was changed from 10 N to 50 N. The change of the rotation speed had no significant effect on the residual stress result. In the test of different process parameters, the error between the calculated value and the experimental value of the model was basically within 10%. Based on test results, it is concluded that the significant degree of influence of the lapping process on the residual stress from high to low is:abrasive particle size, lapping pressure, lapping speed; abrasive particle depth and tangential force have significant relationships with residual stress. The single particle lapping model can predict the law of residual stress under different lapping process parameters.