Objective To study the bending process of ovata catalpa during microwave-assisted heating. Methods The difference of bending performance between urea and water soaking ovata catalpa wood was explored under constant microwave frequency. The influences of microwave processing time, wood moisture content and microwave power on the softening effect of ovate catalpa were discussed. A quadratic regression model was established with response surface methodology based on single factor experiments,and the process was optimized. Results The results showed that urea soaking could obviously improve the wood bending performance, and the process factors of microwave processing time, wood moisture content and microwave power had significant effects on wood bending performance. Conclusion The compression strain could reach 16. 3% and the value of h / r could reach 1 / 5 when the microwave processing time was 2 min, the wood moisture content was 40% and the microwave power was 500 W.