**5. Conclusions**

Three-dimensional FE models of SOFC anode and cathode microstructures were constructed from a stack of two-dimensional SEM images of actual cross-sections of anode and cathode microstructures. The models were subjected to spatially uniform predefined temperature fields of increasing magnitude and the resulting distribution of stresses was obtained using FEA. The obtained stresses were subjected to Weibull analyses to determine the failure probability of the anode and cathode as a function of temperature. *The novelties of this work include FE analysis of the mechanical response of microstructure-based anode and cathode models to temperature loads, consideration of temperature-dependent material properties of the anode and cathode materials, and consideration of nonlinear elastic-plastic behavior of the nickel phase of the Ni-YSZ anode*. The Weibull analyses showed that the linear elastic material models underestimate the failure probability of the anode at high temperatures; hence, it is important to consider the nonlinear behavior of the nickel phase of the Ni-YSZ anode. Also, it was found that consideration of temperature-independent material properties of the cathode materials results in higher failure probability values than those obtained with temperature-dependent material properties.
