The presented work deals with potentials of the thermomechanical simulation of refractories with an emphasis on the applicability of the Finite Element Simulation and the existing material models. In particular the failure under mode I conditions as well as under multiaxial compression stresses are considered. For mode I failure the fictitious crack model showed to be suitable. For shear failure elastic-plastic material models with and without sensitivity to hydrostatic pressure were applied. The application for practical examples represents the main part of the work. It concerns comparisons from lining concepts and the clearification of damage mechanisms. Further emphasis was put on the investigation of the characteristics of monolithic and brick linings. Of importance for this is the interaction of several lining elements, for example opening and closing of joints. A fundamental preliminary methodology for the model development is described. A full scale numerical analysis of lining structures is complicated by slow convergence rates observed in models with significant degree of failure. This can be overcome by so called unit cell models of symmetrical parts of linings which are representative for the whole design or with axisymmetrical models.