Prospects of a new generation of refractories made by ceramic multilayer technology

The notation "functionally graded materials" (FGM) is often used in science for improving thermal shock resistance. Many previous simulations of FGM structures promise a positive effect of decreasing thermal stresses in comparison to homogeneous ones, but a practical usage is often not applicable because of critical simplifications. Therefore, this work shows theoretical results with respect to fabrication, whereby local strength as well as residual stresses due to the cooling down process after sintering are considered. Furthermore, the possibility of creating graded multilayer structures by ceramic tape technology is presented. A property variation is obtained by different content of pore forming agents. First 4-point bending tests of thermally shocked laminates fabricated this way sho w the influence of the pore formers on the residual strength