This paper presents a study providing a numerical simulation of the shaping step of clay tiles in closed tools. The triborheological behaviour of a clay paste was studied by compression tests, highlighting an elasto-visco-plastic behaviour. The friction between the clay and a metallic surface was modelled by a Coulomb/Tresca law. The relevant damage criterion to model the cracks initiation was found to be the Latham and Cockroft criterion. The numerical simulation of a simplified
geometry allowed to validate the tribo-rheological model identified.