The metal seal of an inflow control valve (ICV) is intended to isolate the oil and gas between the casing annulus and the well tubing,and the contact mechanical behavior of the metal seal assembly is essential to the structural design and reliability of ICVs in intelligent well.The related theoretical model between the metal seal’s contact stress and its independent variables was derived.The relationship between the contact stress of the metal seal and its independent variable was studied and verified by the finite element method(FEM).To characterize the sealing mechanism,a twodimensional axisymmetric model of the metal seal and the sleeve was abstracted as a cantilever beam model.The results indicate that the contact stress by theoretical and numerical solutions is in direct proportion to the working pressure,the cantilever beam length,the crosssection height of the cantilever beam and the cantilever beam’s horizontal displacement of the end face,but in inverse proportion to the sine value of the cantilever beam inclination angle and the of the seal face width.The average relative error between the theoretical and numerical solutions of contact stress caused by each variable is less than 10%,which verifies that the theoretical model is correct.The proposed theoretical model provides the foundations for the design of metal seal assembly under a known oilfield conditions.