The interface adhesion strength(or interface toughness)of a thinfilm/substrate system is often assessed by the micro-scratch test.For a brittle filmmaterial,the interface adhesion strength is easily obtained through measuring thescratch driving forces.However,to measure the interface adhesion strength(or in-terface toughness)for a metal thin film material(the ductile material)by the micro-scratch test is very difficult,because intense plastic deformation is involved and theproblem is a three-dimensional elastic-plastic one.In the present research,usinga double-cohesive zone model,the failure characteristics of the thin film/substratesystem can be described and further simulated.For a steady-state scratching pro-cess,a three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element method based on the doublecohesive zone model is developed and adopted,and the steady-state fracture workof the total system is calculated.The parameter relations between the horizontaldriving forces(or energy release rate of the scratching process)and the separationstrength of thin film/substrate interface,and the material shear strength,as well asthe material parameters are developed.Furthermore,a scratch experiment for theAl/Si film/substrate system is carried out and the failure mechanisms are explored.Finally,the prediction results are applied to a scratch experiment for the Pt/NiOmaterial system given in the literature.