Abstract This paper presents the development of a finite element model used to numerically investigate the behaviour of an innovative defective tube isolation device. The high-speed plastic deformation by electro-hydraulic shock was proposed for plug installing in a steam generator tube simulator. The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of the geometrical, material and hydraulic shock parameters upon the performance of the plugging procedure using an advanced 3-dimensional simulation model created in LS-DYNA general code. The computational model employs the Johnson–Cook plasticity model for SS321 to study the high strain rate, elastic–plastic dynamics of the process. The results of the simulations compared against experimental data have shown the great influence of the model parameters uncertainties on the success of the plug installation.