A mathematical model of laser welding steel with a T-joint was developed in this paper to investigate the formation process of keyhole-induced porosity, helping to understand the mechanism of porosity formation in laser welding steels with heavy section. Solidification model and adiabatic bubble model were coupled in this model, which could more approximately reflect the formation process of bubble and its evolution into porosity. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) method was taken to track free surfaces of keyhole and porosity. The numerical results showed that the unstable keyhole during the laser welding process induced the collapse of keyhole and then resulted in bubbles in the molten pool. These bubbles moved following with the fluid flow in the molten pool, where some bubbles could escape out of molten pool under the competition of flow and solidification speed. But some bubbles captured by a solidified wall during the migration process in the molten pool would evolve into porosities. It was also found that some bubbles formed adjacent to a fusion line were easier to be captured by a solidification surface, which could give explanation for some porosities occurring close to the fusion line. A good agreement of simulation and experimental results proved the reliability of this mathematical model, while the mechanism of porosity formation was better clarified with this model.