ABSTRACT
Metal-ceramic dental restorations comprise a bond between a strong metallic substructure and na aesthetic dental porcelain. However, thermal residual stresses arising from cooling after high temperature processing, and problems due to poor chemical compatibility are often related to the failures of these systems. Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) can be an answer to the thermal stress problems (Gasik, 1998, Gasik et al., 2005) consisting in a gradual change in the volume fractions of constituents from one location to the other in a component. The FGMs were first applied in minimizing thermal stresses and increasing thermal shock resistance of blades in gas turbine engines, with great success (Ravichandran, 1995; Chi and Chung, 2003). The philosophy was rapidly adapted by engineers to other fields of activity such as optics, nuclear energy, engineering, electronics, biomaterials, among others.
