Based on the results of a 3D simulation of cake formation on characteristic filter models for fabric filters with different surface structure, the tensile adhesion strengths in simulated dust cakes are evaluated on the basis of the resulting inhomogeneous local porosity distribution of the particle packing by calculating fracture points at a balance between adhesion and detaching strengths. Both the evaluation method itself and the evaluation results for a computation example are presented and discussed. A significant proportion of fracture points are found in deeper levels in the filter medium, and the distribution of tensile adhesion strengths there differs strongly from the distributions in top levels of the filter medium. The fracture points in the top layer of the filter medium, where a special surface texture is generated, can contribute a considerable part of the tensile adhesion strengths over the whole filter area.