Objective To obtain a strengthened layer with high hardness on the surface of 1. 2344 steel. Methods 1. 2344 steel was irradiated with uniform accelerating voltage and different pulses using high-current pulsed eletron beam. The variation rules of surface microstructure and performance of the sample before and after modification were studied. Results It turned out that the surface of the samples formed some crater-like defects which had different shapes, sizes and nonuniform distruction after irradiation by HCPEB. The number of crater-like defects was decreased and the diameter was increased with the increasing irradiating pulse. Austenite appeared on the surface of the irradiated samples, and the surface microhardness was increased by nearly 14. 5% when the pulse frequency exceeded 50. Conclusion After processing with high-current pulsed electron beam, the size of the grain was reduced in the surface layer of the sample. The microhardness of the specimen was increased due to the grain refinement and the generation of macroscopic residual stress.