In this paper, we study the mechanisms of femtosecond double-pulse laser ablation of metals. It was previously shown experimentally that the crater depth monotonically drops when the delay between two successive pulses increases. For delays longer than the time of electron-ion relaxation the crater depth can be even smaller than that produced by a single pulse. The results of the performed hydrodynamic simulation show that the ablation can be suppressed due to the formation of the second shock wave. The modeling results of the double-pulse ablation obtained for different delays correlate with the experimental findings. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.