To evaluate and test control systems designed for heavy duty hydraulic excava-tor, it is important to simulate the force acting on the bucket during its excavation process. The study of soil-tool interaction contributes to the prediction and simula-tion of resistive forces experienced at the tool during digging. Even though many different finite element (FE) models have been developed in the past to study soil-tool interaction process, there is still needs to study the effects of soil-tool friction coefficient. The main objective of this thesis is to utilize finite element model to simulate the soil-tool interaction process, with the focus on the application of excavation, to study the effects of soil-tool friction coefficient on soil failure zone, soil resistive force, and stress distribution on the cutting tool by utilizing finite element model to simulate the soil-tool interaction process. / October 2016